


Push It

by scy



Category: The Vampire Diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-27
Updated: 2010-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:13:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ask, and you may receive</p>
            </blockquote>





	Push It

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to [](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://seperis.dreamwidth.org/)**seperis** for encouragement and suggestions. Title from the song of the same name by Garbage.

In retrospect, Jeremy should have been ready for Damon to say something outrageous when he came up to him in the parlor of the Salvatore Boardinghouse. After all, Jeremy knew Damon did that instead of saying hello. Sometimes Jeremy was jealous that Damon could get away with it, but when he was the one being teased, there was nothing funny about it.

“Vicki told me that she liked you because you saw that there was more to her,” Damon said.

Jeremy stared at Damon. He'd come over for some time without overt supervision of the familial kind, and now put down the book he'd been reading. “I can't believe you just said that. Do you get off on telling people this kind of stuff and laughing when they come after you with a stake?”

“Some of them just try and punch me,” Damon said and shrugged. “It's funny either way.”

“You are so weird,” Jeremy said. “Is that what you really think, or are you messing with me again?”

“Both,” Damon said. “At your age, you should assume that everybody knows something you don't, and that way you won't come off as a complete idiot except when you do.”

“You still don't make any sense,” Jeremy said.

“No, I make plenty of sense, you just don't know how to react,” Damon said. “That's part of your problem, you need to learn how to go for what you want instead of thinking about it so much.”

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. “I don't get you, I know you're playing with me.”

“Yeah, are you going to play along?” Damon leaned back into the couch like he wasn't going to be moving for awhile. His legs were spread a little bit, and Jeremy knew he was staring. “See something you like?” Damon asked, and Jeremy flinched.

“No.”

“Are you sure?” Damon smiled widely and nodded at Jeremy. “You're sitting there like you're afraid you'll break if you move too fast, and I can hear your heartbeat beating like a rabbit's from here.” Damon inhaled obviously. “You smell excited, the question is, do you have the guts to do something about it?”

“Are you daring me to jump you?” Jeremy asked.

“You don't have to jump,” Damon said. “Any move wold be good, otherwise I'm going to get bored, and I could be doing other things.” He ran a hand down his chest slowly, pausing at his hips and then coming to rest on his thigh. “Or, I could do you.”

Jeremy's eyes widened. “Excuse me?” Damon's fingers moved back and forth on the couch cushion, and Jeremy found he couldn't look away. “What are you doing?”

“Testing you,” Damon said. He wasn't even trying to hide how funny he thought it was that Jeremy couldn't decide what he should do, and Jeremy glared at him.

Jeremy knew that he didn't have much of an idea about what vampires wanted, other than blood, but that couldn't be all that Damon was interested in. “What's the point of all this? Why do this to me?”

Damon narrowed his eyes. “Why not? You're here, and it's clear that you've been looking for something, and since you ended up here, I'm the one you want it from.”

“You're unbelievable,” Jeremy said, and shook his head. “Do you think that everybody wants something from you?”

Damon shrugged. “Everybody does, whether they know it or not.”

“I'm sure that there are plenty of people that don't want anything to do with you,” Jeremy said. “What about them?”

The idea didn't seem to bother Damon. “That's their loss.”

“It doesn't get on your nerves?” Jeremy had seen Damon around his house a lot, eyes on Elena or his brother and Elena, and in the last few weeks, on Alaric. He could tell that Damon was interested in people, but who he liked best wasn't as easy to figure out.

“Most people bore me, they're too caught up in their lives and routines, they have tunnel vision.” Damon shrugged.

Jeremy saw where there was a potential conflict. “What happens to somebody if they're interesting?” He watched a smile spread over Damon's face, and he knew enough about predators of different kinds to feel his spine go straight as he took in the way Damon's eyes glittered. “Okay, I get it, then you chomp on them.”

“It depends on my mood,” Damon said. “Who knows, it might be just what you're looking for.”

“Oh, please,” Jeremy said and rolled his eyes. “I don't want a vampire ripping my throat out just because he's bored.”

“There could be other reasons,” Damon said, and Jeremy squirmed under the focus directed his way.

“What are they?” Jeremy asked. “Remember, I'm not nuts, so I might not catch on unless you explain it to me.” He knew he was mouthing off, and stiffened when the air around Damon was disturbed by his movement, and Damon was suddenly standing in front of him. “Hey, I'm just saying.”

“You talk a lot more when you're confused,” Damon said and reaching out, rested his hand against Jeremy's throat.

“It happens more around stuff like you,” Jeremy said. He winced as Damon narrowed his eyes. “Vampires, I meant vampires.”

“You've met enough that you should know what not to say.” Damon smirked. “But you keep on pushing.”

With Damon suddenly so much closer, Jeremy swallowed down what he'd been about to say next. He was pretty sure that Damon wouldn’t kill him unless he had a good reason, but it was that little bit of doubt that kept him from saying exactly what he'd been thinking. “I don't mean to.”

Damon shook his head. “No, you do, that's part of your problem, you have to be able to commit. Until you do, you're doomed to be the only person in the room who can't figure out what he should do next.”

“Whatever, I'm here, aren't I?” Jeremy lifted his chin, and refused to gasp when Damon's fingers tightened slightly. “You're not going to scare me off.”

“Oh, I could,” Damon said slowly. “If I was going to do the right thing and get you out of the way, you could be the bratty younger brother who was just too curious, and I warned you off, that would go over a lot better than the second option.”

Jeremy tried to take a deep breath and couldn't, and met Damon's eyes squarely. “What's that?”

“This.” Damon leaned in and kissed Jeremy very lightly. It was barely more than his mouth against Jeremy’s, but it was enough to make him freeze, and then Damon moved in again. He didn't kiss Jeremy a second time, and Jeremy realized he was straining to reach Damon, but the way he was holding him in place, Jeremy couldn't shift even an inch. From the way he was smiling, Damon could tell that Jeremy was getting frustrated, and he held on just long enough for Jeremy to start really pushing back, and then he let go, and Jeremy had to catch himself so he wouldn't tumble off the couch.

“What's wrong?” Jeremy asked, panting with the effort of trying to reach Damon. He could have gotten up and gone after him again, but Damon shook his head slightly. “Why did you stop?”

“Do you even know what you were trying to do?” Damon asked, and Jeremy groaned. “No, really think about it,” Damon said. “Where would you take this next?"

“I don't know, I wouldn't mind lying down on the couch and making out for awhile,” Jeremy said. “That's what you usually do when somebody kisses you.”

Damon laughed. “That's not all I would want to do, Jeremy.” His look was heated, and Jeremy blushed and cleared his throat nervously.

“I know that, Damon, I've had sex plenty of times.” He was exaggerating, but he wasn't ignorant of what Damon was talking about. “This isn't the first time that I've kissed a vampire either, remember?”

“You've actually gotten into the habit,” Damon said. He looked thoughtful, and that was Jeremy's cue to pay even closer attention. “Do you have a death wish, Jeremy?”

“What happens if I give you the wrong answer?” Jeremy asked. This mattered to him, being on the outside and knowing that things were changing but not being able to talk to anybody about it had been unbearable. He could think of another option, and that was even worse. “Don't try and erase my memory again, I wear vervain.”

“Is that all?” Damon wasn't impressed. “You're counting on an herb to protect you.”

Jeremy raise his hand and wiggled his fingers, the ring glinting. “I've got this too.” He wasn't trying to brag, but he wasn't unprotected, not the way most people were when it came to the supernatural.

“Yes, and we both know that your ring is only good while you've got it on, and it's not like a tattoo.” Damon smiled. “Rings come off, and you might lose a finger too.”

Jeremy grimaced and nodded. He remembered how easy it has been for Damon to put him in a headlock and twist the ring off his finger. He could have done it without being much stronger than Jeremy, if he had the leverage, he could do the same thing. With Damon being a vampire and being faster and stronger, Jeremy got the point. “Good to know.”

“Make up your mind, Jeremy, figure out what you want, and then come back.”

“What if I know now?” Jeremy asked. He was trying to stand his ground, but his skin was still tingling where Damon had touched him, and he couldn't decide whether he liked it or not, but it was hard to concentrate on much else.

“You don't,” Damon said. “If you did, you'd be out of that chair and going after it.”

“Going after you,” Jeremy said. He was feeling his way around, trying to find a way to get on the same page as Damon, but he was still behind, and knew he didn't have much more time left. “All right, so I don't have a lot of experience with guys, but I'm still not the dumb kid you think I am.”

Damon lifted a hand. “Prove it.” He looked relaxed, and Jeremy wished that he was even a little bit stressed out, but knew that wasn't likely.

“You've got way more experience than I do, I get it, Damon, but give me a chance.” Jeremy clenched his jaw. “Who knows, I might surprise you.”

Damon shrugged. “It's possible, but so far you're not doing anything new.”

Jeremy let out a breath in frustration. “Then tell me what I need to do, all right? I want to do this, tell me how this game works.”

“You're catching on,” Damon said. “First off, there are rules.”

Jeremy frowned. “I thought you didn't care about rules, I mean, you break enough of them.” When Damon didn't stop smiling, Jeremy couldn't help grinning back, even if he was still nervous.

“That doesn't mean I don't use them on other people.” Damon spread his arms along the back of the couch. “It's up to you to figure out what they are, and when you do, come back and we'll see if you want this badly enough.”

Jeremy got up and took two steps toward Damon, but was stopped in his tracks by the narrowing of Damon's eyes. “There's no way you're going to change your mind?”

“Not until you prove that you can follow a couple of simple commands,” Damon said and flicked his fingers at Jeremy. “Go on, kid, go home, if you show up again, you'd better be able to tell me what you want.”

Jeremy put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I get it, you're not going to let up, I'll go.” He put his hands in his pockets and headed for the door, but turned just as he reached it. “I am going to be back, you got it?”

Damon didn't crane his neck to look at Jeremy, but he laughed. “I've got it, now go on, I've got things to do.”

Jeremy walked home and went straight up to his room. He came down and ate dinner with his aunt, and when Elena came home, let her vent about Stefan. She didn't share very much, Jeremy could tell, and he wanted to call her on it, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. When she smiled and patted his shoulder, Jeremy sighed. As his sister, Elena wanted to protect him, but what she didn't think about was that Jeremy was involved in this, had been since Vicki got hurt the first time, and nothing was going to keep him from trying to learn as much as he could.

He was spending his evenings doing research about vampires and Mystic Falls, and what he found was enough to tell him that he didn't know enough. The original founders had kept detailed records of everything about their town, but they'd left out the key details that would have helped their descendents protect themselves in case the vampires ever came back. But, somebody had to know what was going on, there were always secrets in small towns, and Jeremy's family was proof of that. What he needed, was to decide what to do with what he knew. One of the problems was that there wasn't anybody he could talk to about any of this, besides Damon, and Jeremy wasn't even going to be allowed back into the boardinghouse until he had his answer.

Jeremy spent his free time staring into space, reading Jonathan Gilbert's journal, and trying to decide whether it was a good idea to go after something because he wanted it, or if he should forget about it because it was really dangerous.

After a couple days of thinking it over, Jeremy told himself that he'd done more than a few stupid things lately, and at least he knew that walking into this, and he did want to find out where it would go. With his decision made, he showered, dressed, and went over to the Salvatore Boardinghouse. He'd heard Elena and Stefan in the kitchen with Jenna, and got out of the house without anybody asking him any questions, and promised he'd answer his phone, and that he'd be back later.

He knocked on the front door, and shifted from one foot to the other as he waited. Vampires had much better hearing than humans, Anna had told him that much, and Jeremy wondered if Damon was standing inside letting him get more nervous, or if he was just taking his time coming to the door. When it opened and Damon stood in the doorway, Jeremy glared at him. “Took you long enough.”

“I knew you'd wait,” Damon said. He walked into the house, and Jeremy followed him in, closing the door behind him. It was annoying the way Damon knew what he was going to do, but Jeremy had come back, and that meant he was willing to play by Damon's rules, so he didn't say a word until they were in the living room.

“Yeah, I waited, and I came back. See, I can follow directions.” Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest.

Damon took in the way Jeremy was standing and snorted. “When it suits you, I'll say that much.”

Jeremy met his eyes. “You're one to talk.” He stepped forward, off the steps and onto the rug that lay in front of the fireplace. “Okay, we've got that much cleared up, what's next?”

Damon gestured at Jeremy's stance and general mood, which was annoyed, and nervous, and he wasn't hiding any of it very well. “You came here, did you have a plan, or were you just going to stand there and glare at me. As seduction techniques go it's somewhat lacking.”

“Look, I didn't think that far,” Jeremy said. He lifted one hand helplessly and moved closer, trying to guess what Damon was going to do next. “You wanted me to be sure that this was something I was willing to work for, and here I am. Are you going to tell me what the rest of the rules are, or do I have to fumble around in the dark?”

Damon lowered his head to stared hard at Jeremy. “Do you have a problem with the dark?” He made it sound like it was something Jeremy should see a doctor about, and Jeremy tried not to get mad, because Damon was testing him and he wanted to pass and win the prize. He'd gotten a little taste, and he wasn't going to back off until he got another.

“No, I'm fine with it, but I'd like a clue, or for you to stop playing games and to do something.” Jeremy didn't much care what it was, so long as he wasn't getting hurt, and he didn't like that what he wanted was so obvious. Damon picked up on stuff in a really freaky way, and maybe if he wasn't a scary vampire, he might have been a psychologist or had another job where he got to mess with people's heads.

Damon was standing by a bookcase and as he watched Jeremy, he ran his fingers over the spines of the books on the shelf next to him. “Did you have a suggestion?”

“I want to do what we were doing a few days ago,” Jeremy said. “The kissing,” he added, when Damon motioned for him to go on. “It was a surprise, but I liked it.”

Damon moved, and Jeremy managed to raise his hands and grab onto his shirt before he could step back. They both knew that Damon could get away, but Jeremy wasn't scared of the fact that Damon could move fast, and he didn't think Damon had done it to frighten him off.

“You want me,” Damon said, and he sounded so sure of himself, that even though it was true, Jeremy kind of wanted to punch him. When he didn't answer right away, Damon pulled back, and Jeremy hung onto his shirt and spoke up.

“Yeah, I do.” It was what Damon had been waiting for, and he smirked as he stopped moving. “Is that it, or do you need me to tell you about my childhood?”

“You do and I'll hurt you, and not in a way you'll enjoy,” Damon said. That got him a funny look that Jeremy didn't suppress in time, and Damon rolled his eyes. “Does everyone around here have completely safe sex?”

“I use protection,” Jeremy said, and bit his lip. “That's not what you meant.” He felt stupid, and looked away when Damon kept smiling.

“No, it's not, but it's cute that you think that doesn't apply here.”

The idea had never even occurred to Jeremy. “Can vampires even get sick?”

“No, we can't catch colds or the flu,” Damon said. “Which is something of a relief, let me just say.”

“Because you like to sleep around,” Jeremy said, and when Damon raised an eyebrow, Jeremy gulped, but held his ground. “I'm not blind, I've seen you with girls at the Grill.” He turned the idea over in his head and then continued. “And with Alaric.”

“I know a lot of people.” Damon's voice lilted, and Jeremy found himself trying to hold onto it, and he moved closer to Damon to get more of whatever it was.

“Yeah, well, so do I.” Jeremy curled his lip. “It helps when you've got a reputation, people know what to expect.”

Damon eyed him levelly. “You want people to think of you as a small time drug dealer who might flunk out of school if you're not careful?”

“Well, what would people have said about you when you were my age?” Jeremy asked defensively. “Did they all love you?”

“I'm from a good family, my father was an influential member of the community, and I had good prospects,” Damon said. “People generally like me.”

That sounded like Damon was writing an ad for himself. “Everybody who's ever met you thinks you're a good guy?”

“I'm easy to get along with,” Damon said. “You're here, after all.”

Jeremy could see what Damon was getting at, and had to admit that it was true. Nobody who just met Damon would think he was anything but nice. Damon knew how to act the part, and Jeremy wondered exactly how far and deep the front went. He'd known not everything was the way it looked in his town, but vampires were still new territory, even after he'd dated one. “That's not because I thought you were nice, I know you're not.”

“I can be nice,” Damon said. “The thing is, I don't need to be.”

Jeremy nodded at the position they were in, and wondered how long they were going to stand there. “Do all vampires play with people?”

Damon looked impatient. “We're hunters, Jeremy, it's part of the chase, and we love it.”

“Okay, I get it, I'm the rabbit, what will you do now that you've got me where you want me?”

“You're acting like you don't have a choice,” Damon said, and his voice had cooled, and Jeremy tried to pull back a little, but Damon moved with him and maintained the distance between them. “I told you to come back if you'd made a decision and here you are. If you didn't want this, then you shouldn't have walked through that door.”

Jeremy licked his lips. “I didn't mean that I'd changed my mind, I just want to know where I stand. It sounds like I haven't got a lot of room to work with.”

Damon's eyes lowered, and Jeremy realized he was looking at his mouth, and his tongue darted out again. “You have plenty of room, it's all about what you do with it.”

Jeremy relaxed, he was used to being dared to jump before he thought about something, and this was on a different scale, but he had come here ready to adjust so he could get what he wanted, whatever that might be. “Okay, what are the other rules?”

“I'll tell you if you're about to break one,” Damon said. “It's more fun if you go with what feels right and see what happens.”

“I'd like to do what we were doing the last time I was here,” Jeremy said. “That would be good for a start.”

Damon didn't jump at the suggestion. “If you can't even say it, then you shouldn't be doing it.” His gaze slid away from Jeremy's face, and Jeremy felt his opportunity slipping away unless he acted fast. He reached up and grabbed Damon's collar and yanked hard. Damon covered Jeremy's hand with his own and lifted it off his shirt.

He shook his head. “You don't need to rip a perfectly good shirt to make a point.”

Jeremy sighed. “I know that you like playing this game, but it's getting old.”

“Then make a move,” Damon said. “Remember, this is up to you.”

Jeremy let out a shaky breath and tried to decide what he should try first. There had been times when he'd done his best to impress the girls he'd kissed, but in his own way. Giving them gifts wasn't his thing, Vicki for one thought that meant he wanted something in exchange, and Anna would have thought it was cute and laughed. But Damon had some kind of internal checklist that he was marking off with every single move Jeremy made, and so when he pressed a kiss against Damon's jaw, he didn't let it be what Damon might have been anticipating. It was sloppy, and Jeremy fitted his teeth around the curve of Damon's jaw and sank down. When Damon let out a soft noise, Jeremy moved an inch upwards and did it again.

Damon tossed his head back with a laugh. “You're skipping right to the good stuff.”

Glaring at Damon, Jeremy twisted his fingers in Damon's shirt again. “We both know where you want this to go, and I do too. What else do I have to do so you'll believe me?”

“Don't run,” Damon said, and bent his head to kiss Jeremy. One hand moved to Jeremy's waist and the other slid around to the back of his head, and Jeremy let himself tip his weight forward, into Damon as he moaned into Damon's mouth.

Damon kissed him back, taking control like it had never been a question as to whether Jeremy ended up here, but just a matter of when he got his head around to the idea.

“What if I want to see if you'll catch me?” Jeremy asked, breathless, and Damon snorted and narrowed his eyes.

“There's nowhere for you to go, kid, that's what you're counting on.” He sounded sure of himself, and pleased in a deep down way. “Well, you've gotten this far, now it's my turn.”

This was where Jeremy’s imagination had failed him. He'd done some research, blushed, looked a bit more, and then cleared his internet history afterward. “What do you have in mind?” Jeremy asked. His breath caught in his lungs as Damon lifted him and dropped him back onto the carpet. He didn't hit his head, Damon's hand hadn't moved, and he tugged on Jeremy's hair.

“Are you still with me?” When Jeremy said he was, Damon eased himself down on top of Jeremy. It was like he was stretched out on a bed, but was using Jeremy's body instead, and somehow kept most of his weight off him. He could still move, a little, just not very far, and Damon watched him figure that out with a smirk. “Let's lose the clothes,” Damon said, and Jeremy wriggled out of his shirt, with some help from Damon, and felt Damon's hands on his belt.

“Are you going to take anything off or is this all about me?”

Damon tugged off his own shirt, but left his jeans buttoned. “You can't stop running your mouth, can you?”

“It's not totally bad, it got me here,” Jeremy said. “You're the one who has to catch up, so get with it already.” He was daring Damon to do what he'd promised, let up on some of the restraint that he showed around most people. That wasn't what Jeremy wanted, it hadn't been since he figured out that being safe was boring, and that vampires were real, and they were probably didn't believe in having limits.

“Rush things, and you'll miss out,” Damon said scoldingly. “Lie back and take it all in.” He ran his fingers down Jeremy's chest, fingers trailing over his collarbone, and then around Jeremy's nipples in slow, small circles. It didn't tickle, not really, but it made Jeremy shiver, and when he had goosebumps, Damon laughed and took one nipple in his mouth and bit down very lightly.

In spite of himself, Jeremy flinched. “What are you doing?”

Damon lifted his head. “I'm a vampire, Jeremy, I like to bite. You'd better get used to the idea if you really want this.” He rested his fingers on either side of the nipple, touching softly, teasing it while he waited, and Jeremy thought about it as long as it took for him to realize that he was getting hard.

“No, it's not that, I was just surprised, I thought you'd go for my neck first.” He smiled weakly. “It's easier to get blood from an artery.”

“You've been doing some reading,” Damon said. “There are plenty of places I can get blood from, and a lot of them are covered by your clothes.” He widened his eyes, playing at innocence, and not trying very hard at all. “Why go for the obvious when there are much more fun ways to do this?”

“I don't know,” Jeremy said. “Okay, I get it, I'm new at this, show me what you've got.”

Damon grinned. “Happily.” He wasn't kidding, he went after every spot that might get a reaction out of Jeremy and wrung shudders and gasps from him. When he guided Jeremy's hands to his waist, Jeremy's hands were shaking as he shoved his pants down. He realized that he'd put on his boxers that had neon stars on them and stopped moving, his pants tangled around his ankles.

“Charming,” Damon said, and Jeremy tugged on Damon's pants.

“Go on, what have you got under there?” Jeremy wasn't shocked to find that Damon's boxers were black, but he had wondered if Damon went without.

“If you expect everyone to fit your image of them you're going to wind up perpetually disappointed,” Damon said. He was laughing at Jeremy again, but then he wrapped his fingers around Jeremy's cock and Jeremy suddenly didn’t care if Damon liked making fun of him, so long as he kept touching him.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Jeremy said breathlessly and arched up into Damon's grip. “That's really good.”

“I'll bear it in mind,” Damon said, and added a twist to his strokes, and pretty soon Jeremy was tossing his head to the side and trying to keep from making too much noise.

Damon's free hand slid down to Jeremy's leg and he dug his fingernails in until Jeremy let out a yelp. “It's no fun if you're holding back.”

It took Jeremy a minute to get his words in order, and then he coughed “I'm not-”

“If you bite your tongue any harder you're going to make yourself bleed.” Damon moved up and kissed the side of Jeremy's mouth and then kissed him right on the lips, not being careful with his teeth, even if his teeth weren't sharp at the moment. “I'm not saying I wouldn't appreciate it, but I can do that for you.”

“You're really nice that way,” Jeremy said and let out a yelp when Damon nipped him. “Hey, I didn't say you could do that.”

“I've always found it's better to ask for forgiveness later,” Damon said and when he'd left another mark, Jeremy had to admit that he'd done that a couple of times himself. Even so, he wanted to make it clear that he had lines.

“I don't want you biting me, not seriously, all right? That's something you need to ask about, you know, before you take a chunk out of somebody's neck.”

Damon rested his chin on Jeremy's chest and smirked. “Your neck isn't the only place I'd like to sink my teeth into.”

Jeremy shoved at Damon's shoulder, and wasn't surprised when Damon didn't move even an inch. “Funny.”

“So I'm told,” Damon said and shifted so he could continue stroking Jeremy's cock and basically driving him out of his mind. “Did you want to finish like this?” Damon asked. “Or did you want something a whole lot better?”

Jeremy peered at him uncertainly. He was panting and nearly on the edge, but still had enough sense to know that giving Damon blanket permission was a really dumb idea. “Like what? Do I get a preview before you spring it on me?”

“What exactly do you expect” Damon asked. “This isn't a movie, and you don't get to to pause the action when you get distracted.” He was tapping his fingers on Jeremy's hip, and there was a rhythm there that Jeremy found himself trying to follow.

“You're stopping too,” Jeremy said and lifted one leg to shove at Damon's shoulder. “Go on, show off a little, otherwise I'm going to keep asking questions.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “Since that's the only way this is going to happen, let's get to it.” Jeremy had just enough time to say something about romance being dead, and then Damon laughed and went back to stroking Jeremy at the same time his free hand stroked Jeremy's inner thigh, moving steadily inward.

When Damon had eased a finger inside him, Jeremy’s whole body was sensitized to every little hint of contact he was waiting for Damon to touch him again, and when he did, it would be what he needed. He knew what was next, watched Damon upend a small bottle into his hands and move downwards. He mouthed at Jeremy's hipbone, and nipped at the skin until Jeremy twitched, and couldn't help laughing. “I'm going to have a bruise there.”

“Not just there,” Damon said, and added another mark further down. “All right, now you need to relax.”

“It's not like I've done this before, give me a break,” Jeremy said, but did his best to stay still, even as he felt Damon's fingers brush against the inside of his thighs. “Just go slowly.” It was hard to look away when he could feel Damon touching him, a slow drag of pressure inwards, and when he crooked the finger, Jeremy twisted away, and then down, trying to get more of whatever the feeling was.

“Good, yeah?” Damon asked, and when Jeremy snuck a look at his face, he raised an eyebrow. “This is just the start, you're going to have to hang on, this is the start of the ride.”

“I'm ready,” Jeremy said.

“I don't think so, but let's go already,” Damon said, and spread his free hand over Jeremy's stomach and held him in place as he slid another finger in beside the first.

“Oh, that's-” Jeremy shuddered. He'd never even thought about doing this to himself, and apparently he should have, because the slight burn that had him trying to arch away from Damon's fingers only lasted until Damon moved his fingers upwards again, and hit that spot. “Where did you learn that?”

“I've been around,” Damon said. He kept moving his fingers, and Jeremy found himself shifting downwards, helping him, he realized, loosening himself up, and his face went hot as he moaned. “That's it,” Damon said, and pulled his fingers out and moved so he was sitting between Jeremy's legs, and that's when Jeremy saw that he was really and truly naked.

“Whoa,” Jeremy said involuntarily. He sounded like he'd lost about half his braincells, but he had an excuse. He watched as Damon moved easily into a better position to- Jeremy knew what was happening, but he'd just never been on the other side, and it took a little getting used to. It wasn't until Damon was actually up against him and pressing inside that Jeremy could breathe normally.

Damon shifted, and eased in a little bit further. He was staring at Jeremy's face, and pushed his hair out of his face, leaving his hair on Jeremy's jaw as he waited. “You think you can take more?”

Jeremy shuddered. He'd known that this wouldn't be easy, not the way it was in porn, and it was uncomfortable, burning, and he felt like he was being pinned down, but there was something just beyond his reach that made him breathe out hard and nod hurriedly. “Yeah, come on, don't stop now.”

“Good boy,” Damon said, and Jeremy groaned.

“Don't call me that-” He let out a gasp when Damon slid all the way in, and his hips rested against his body. Jeremy was grateful that Damon was holding still, if just for a couple seconds, because when he moved, everything went out of his head and all he could do was hang onto Damon. It seemed natural to bring his legs up around Damon's hips, and when Damon thrust strongly, Jeremy yanked on his hair, bringing him down so Jeremy could kiss him.

It wasn't gentle, not any of it, but Jeremy liked that Damon wasn't being careful with him, he got too much of that from everyone else, and he'd almost forgotten how much he liked that feeling of being thrown by something.

Damon controlled the kiss, biting at Jeremy's mouth as he moved solidly into Jeremy, eliciting a steady stream of noises from Jeremy. He wasn't making sense, but Damon seemed to understand him, laughing softly and resting his teeth against Jeremy’s throat.

Just the touch was enough for Jeremy to think about what he could do if he just bit down, what it might feel like, and he lifted upward so Damon could get to more of his neck and gasped when Damon only smiled and then licked Jeremy's throat just as one of his hands slipped down to grab Jeremy's wrist and brought it down between their bodies. “I'm not going to get you off,” Damon said. “This is a two person event.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Jeremy said, and began jerking himself off. It wasn't easy getting a good angle, not with Damon on top of him, and Jeremy having difficulty concentrating, but with his hand, and the friction of Damon's body against him, it didn't take long for Jeremy to groan and shudder as the orgasm hit him.

When he pried his eyes open, one hand went to his neck as he realized he wasn't bleeding. “You didn't bite me,” Jeremy said. He knew he sounded disappointed, but that was supposed to be part of sleeping with a vampire, and he'd missed out.

“I gave you a couple of hickeys,” Damon said and did a twisting movement that ended with him lying beside Jeremy, who stared at the ceiling and tried not to think about how sore he was going to be when it all sank in.

“Yeah, but you didn't bite me,” Jeremy said again. “I thought that's what you liked doing best.” Jeremy didn't want to ask if it was because of him, but he thought that would just figure.  
But when Jeremy rolled over, unsure of whether he was supposed to get up and leave, Damon's fingers fitted over his hip, and when Jeremy froze, Damon tugged him backwards. Damon didn't say a word, but he breathed lightly on the back of Jeremy's neck, and Jeremy decided he could stay there for a little longer. This didn't make a lot of sense, but he had liked it, that's all that mattered really, and he told himself that as his eyelids got heavier and he closed his eyes.

Jeremy made it out of the boardinghouse a couple hours later, walking home with a smile on his face, and not caring if anybody saw him looking so ridiculously happy. Jenna was in the kitchen again, she had been trying to cook more things for dinner, and a lot of her experiments involved her frowning at cookbooks, talking to herself, and on one memorable evening, a whole bunch of things being chopped and dumped in a pot while Jenna swore a lot.

That had been after she and Alaric had one of their really long conversations on the porch, and whatever they'd said to each other hadn't made anybody happy. This time, when Jeremy peeked through the doorway, he saw Jenna frowning thoughtfully at a pot, and prodding its contents thoughtfully with a spoon.

“Hey, Jenna,” Jeremy said, coming up behind her and kissing her on the cheek. “What's cooking?”

“It's stew, I'm not sure what kind,” Jenna said. “I was writing notes and I didn't look at what I put in.” She twisted her head to get a better look at Jeremy. “Are you smiling?”

Jeremy tried to look serious. “Maybe?”

Jenna patted his arm. “What's got you in such a good mood?”

“I had a good day,” Jeremy said. He hoped he didn't smell like Damon's cologne or anything, but it was hard not to smile. He was tired, sore, and hoped he'd get to do it all over again really soon. “I might be out tonight.”

“Take your phone,” Jenna said and frowned. “I'm not asking where you're going, did you notice?”

Jeremy had caught that she wasn't making a big deal out of it, and he nodded. “I promise, I'll keep my phone on, and I promise I'm not going to do anything you wouldn't.” When Jenna winced, he shrugged. “Come on, I've done most of what you've done already.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jenna said. “This new leaf you've turned over is still novel enough that I'm going to pretend you said that.” She offered Jeremy a spoonful of stew. “Here, tell me if this needs more cayenne.”

Taking a careful bite, Jeremy coughed. “No, it's spicy enough just the way it is.” He swallowed and went to the sink and bent over to get a mouthful of water from the tap. After the first gulp, his mouth was still burning, so he took another, and ignored Jenna's swat to the back of his head.

“When you're done, please set the table, Elena said that she and Stefan might be over later for dinner.” Jenna fussed with the stew, and Jeremy straightened up and put a hand on her arm.

“I'll take care of it, don't add anything, really, dinner is great.” Jeremy couldn't tell if he'd liked the stew or if his tongue had been scorched by the cayenne so he couldn't tell if it was any good or not. He got the plates down and got the table set before he got up the nerve to ask. “Did Elena say if Damon was coming over too?”

“No, she didn't, but I got the feeling that they're not talking right now,” Jenna said. “Why?”

“No reason,” Jeremy said. “It's just that we were talking something over, and I wanted to talk to him about it some more.”

“Oh?” Jenna looked curious, and Jeremy nodded quickly. “Was it for a school project?”

“No, but Damon is friends with Alaric, and I thought he could give me some pointers.” Jeremy wanted to hit himself in the face, he wasn't smooth when he tried, and now he felt like he was fumbling around in the dark and going to fall into a pit at any second.

“He's not going to help you cheat on an exam, is he?” Jenna narrowed her eyes, and then the doorbell rang, and Jeremy wanted to cheer with relief.

“I'll get that, it's probably Elena and Stefan.” Jeremy didn't run to open the door, but it wasn't easy. He yanked the door open, and found his sister and Stefan staring at him from the other side. “Hi guys, come in,” Jeremy said. He peered around Stefan hopefully. “Have you seen your brother?”

“Not since yesterday,” Stefan said, and Elena looked worried.

“Jeremy, has he been bothering you?”

“Nothing like that,” Jeremy said and hoped Stefan couldn't do something freaky like smell how nervous he was. “I wanted to ask him something, but it can wait.” Stefan was still staring at Jeremy in that creepy way he had that was supposed to be comforting, or show that he was interested, but Jeremy moved uncomfortably out of the way so they could come inside and wished Stefan would just stop looking at him like that. As if it wasn't enough that Elena was giving him a look that said she would be cornering him the first chance she got, her boyfriend had to go and take up the same hobby. Jeremy wished he hadn't agreed to stay for dinner, and decided that as soon as he was done eating, he'd go out and find Damon again.

When Jeremy picked at his food, not hungry and his mind on other things, other people noticed. “I thought you liked the stew,” Jenna said.

“I do,” Jeremy said. “I've just got a lot on my mind.” He wanted to take the words back almost as soon as he'd said them, but smiled weakly at Elena and Jenna when they narrowed their eyes at him, and ignored Stefan's curious look. “Well, that was great, I've got to go,” Jeremy said and grabbed his bowl. He rinsed it out, stuck it in the dishwasher and was out the door before Jenna could say anything. He started walking toward the center of town, not really sure of where Damon might be, but Jeremy had seen him drinking enough to try the Grill first.

Sure enough, when he stood in the entrance, Jeremy saw Damon leaning on the bar, a glass in front of him. Feeling very brave, Jeremy went over and cleared his throat. Damon didn’t look over, but Jeremy saw the corner of his mouth lift a little bit and he knew he wasn’t going to be completely ignored.

Damon didn't push Jeremy away, not even when Jeremy leaned against Damon's back and peered over his shoulder at the half full glass in front of him. “Are you busy?”

“I was having a drink,” Damon said. “If you want one, I have to tell you that Liz has cracked down on the bartender serving underage drinkers.”

Jeremy shook his head. “It's so weird hearing you call Sheriff Forbes that.” Damon shrugged and downed the rest of his drink and signaled to the bartender. “Yeah, anyway, I wanted to see you.”

“Why?” Damon asked. “Didn’t you get what you wanted yesterday?” Jeremy hadn’t expected Damon to be all over him, but he was so casual that it was hard to tell if he was even still interested.

“A little,” Jeremy said. “You don’t mean that’s it?” He didn’t care if he sounded eager, he wanted to have Damon touch him again and see what happened after that. “I’m not asking to go out with you.” Jeremy paused as he glanced around to see who was standing close enough to hear what they were saying, and caught Damon’s smirk.

“Careful, you don’t want to announce that you’re shacking up with your sister’s boyfriend’s brother.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Jeremy said, and since he didn’t see anybody who would care what he was doing, as long as he kept the noise down, he rested a hand on Damon’s shoulder and squeezed more tightly than he would have with somebody normal. “Look, I told you that I knew what I wanted, and I’m back, that should mean something to you.”

“Yeah, that you’re young enough not to know better and you really want to get laid again,” Damon said. He finished his drink and when the bartender wandered over, told the man that his drinks were on the house. The man nodded vaguely and drifted off again.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Jeremy said, but grinned at Damon. “I wish I could do that.”

“Become a hypnotist,” Damon said, and Jeremy nudged him daringly, and pretended he didn’t see the way Damon was eying him.

“There are other ways.” Jeremy had asked Anna to turn him into a vampire, and he would have done it too, but apparently pills and vampire blood weren’t the right combination. The difference now was that he wasn’t sure that doing that would fix any of his problems. Besides, he had a ring that would protect him from most of the dangers in Mystic Falls, including the one next to him, if he was careful. But, Jeremy admitted, careful was easing and boring, and so far, Damon had never been either of those things.

“Yeah, and you don’t want that,” Damon said with certainty. Jeremy couldn’t see how Damon was so sure, and frowned. Damon rolled his eyes. “You’re practically crawling all over me in public, Jeremy. It’s easy to see that you have a death wish, but since you’re going for my belt and not a stake, you like the thrill more than anything else.” Damon reached out and ran a hand down Jeremy’s face and then rested his palm on Jeremy’s chest. “If you keep pushing, you won't be able to get back out again.”

“That's what I'm looking for,” Jeremy said. “When are you going to get that?” He wondered if he should make a scene, whether that would help him or if Damon would get mad.

“You're really eager to have something happen to you,” Damon said and smiled. “If you're that certain, I don't mind indulging you.” He pushed away from the bar, and for a second Jeremy thought that he was going to offer his arm to Jeremy like an old time gentleman but all he did was lead the way and Jeremy hurried after him.

“Where are we going?” Jeremy asked when he caught up to Damon. He got a look that said he was stupid for having to ask.

“Did you want to taunt a vampire all afternoon or get anything out of it?” Damon asked, and Jeremy grinned, his cheeks heating. They were in public and he didn't want to have anybody he knew catch him hanging out with Damon and have them think he was bothering him.

“So that's it, we're going to go back to your place?” Jeremy asked. He was surprised that Damon didn't want to play around with him more, he'd done enough of it the day before. That made sense to Jeremy, since he was starting to think that he lived in a nature preserve and in Mystic Falls, predators ran wild and he was lucky enough to know what some of them looked like. With that in mind, Damon playing games with him was just like him toying with his food. Jeremy's goal was to make himself something more than a meal, and he didn't know what he could do to keep Damon's attention. “You don't waste any time.”

“No need,” Damon said and grinned at Jeremy. “You're practically hanging off me, I'd better do something, otherwise you're going to lose control.”

“Nice to know that you're looking out for me,” Jeremy said and rubbed the back of his neck self consciously.

“You'll enjoy it,” Damon said, and took a sharp left turn into an alley. He didn’t seem to care that it was the middle of the morning and that people were hurrying up and down the street. Jeremy glanced sideways and he could see the Jones’ family going past.

“Are you crazy?” Jeremy asked when one of Damon’s hands landed on the top button of his jeans. Damon raised an eyebrow, and Jeremy groaned. “Okay, yeah, vampire, stupid question, but anybody could see us out here.”

“What’s your point?” Damon asked, and Jeremy gasped when his jeans were unzipped and yanked down just enough that Damon could slide his hand inside. He didn’t waste any time, and everything Jeremy had been going to say, the objections he’d been about to make, all of that was forgotten as Damon’s fingers curled around his cock.

“Nothing,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t mean to-” He gave up and let his head thump back against the building behind him and tried to stay upright. Embarrassingly, it didn’t take long for Damon to get it off, and when Jeremy groped after him, trying to hang on or return the favor, Damon batted him away and stepped back.

“Get yourself cleaned up and let’s go.” He stood facing away from Jeremy, staring at the mouth of the alley as if he’d just stopped to think about something and didn’t have a guy standing next to him with his pants around his thighs.

Jeremy got himself covered and zipped up, and then looked at Damon. “Did anybody see us?”

“What do you care?” Damon asked. “It’s not like any of them will say something to you.” He smiled a little meanly, Jeremy thought. “This isn’t the kind of town where you get called out for what you do out of sight. If somebody saw something they weren’t supposed to, then that’s their problem.” He rocked forward and then backwards and spun away. “Come on then, if you want it.”

“What was that for?” Jeremy asked. He was still a little shaky on his feet, but his head was clearer, and even though he wanted to get his hands on Damon’s bare skin, he didn’t feel like he was going to lose his mind if it didn’t happen for a few more minutes.

“Now you can think,” Damon said. “I couldn’t do anything with you when you were pawing at me like that, now I can have some fun.”

“Me too, right?” Jeremy asked, just to make sure. That made Damon laugh, at him or with him, Jeremy couldn’t tell, but he waited.

“Wait and see, kid,” Damon said. “That is, if you can keep up.”

“Watch me,” Jeremy said, and grinned wildly at Damon and didn’t care if anybody else looked at him funny.

 

Jeremy didn’t remember much about how they got to the boarding house. When he stepped through the door, he grabbed Damon and tried to move him against a wall, or anywhere that would give him some leverage. Damon laughed, and didn’t make it easy for Jeremy, and that made him swear a lot, and Damon just laughed harder. “Do you have to be a jerk about everything?” Jeremy asked, smacking Damon in the shoulder.

“You’ve had it too easy for a long time,” Damon said, which Jeremy didn’t get and reared back.

“My parents died last year, I found out that this town is a supernatural magnet, and I’m sleeping with a psychopathic vampire, how is my life easy?’

“You have family, a home, friends, and you never have to worry about having enough to eat,” Damon said. “I’d say you just finding out that you’re not the most dangerous thing out there is a small mercy.”

“I think I’m offended,” Jeremy said, and slipped his hands under Damon’s jacket to tug on his t-shirt. “Come on, you got me here again, let’s do something.”

“Ah, to be a teenager again,” Damon said and rolled his eyes. “You’re all bravado and hormones.”

“It’s not like you were never sixteen,” Jeremy said. “How old were you when you got turned into a vampire?”

“My early twenties,” Damon said. “Old enough that I had some idea of how to handle myself, trust me, it makes all the difference.” He grinned and gave Jeremy a shove that sent him sprawling into a chair. “Of course there are definite advantages to despoiling a boy.” Leaning down to brush his mouth against Jeremy’s throat, he breathed deeply as Jeremy shivered. “Yeah, like this.”

“I can’t help it,” Jeremy said. He didn’t know if it was just that he was touching somebody, and didn’t have to hide what he was doing or worry that they were going to get caught, but he couldn’t control what happened when Damon was near him. Having his hands on Jeremy’s skin was like having all his senses overload suddenly and leave him reeling.

“I know,” Damon said, and hoisted Jeremy out of the chair and onto his feet again. It was so cool the way he did it, like Jeremy was lighter than air, and yet Damon didn’t ever forget that, and anything he did was deliberate. It was a scary thought, that Jeremy could get hurt, but they both knew it, and somehow that made it all right.

“Do you have a bedroom?” Jeremy asked. “Not that this isn’t a nice room, and your house is really cool too, but I think that a bed would be even better than that rug.” He knew he was running his mouth, and he never did that, even when he was nervous, sullen silence was what Jenna said he was best at, but with Damon, Jeremy couldn’t stop talking, like if he had enough time he’d say the right thing, and Damon would want to keep him around.

“There’s a couple beds upstairs,” Damon said as if Jeremy was being really dumb. “This is a boardinghouse.” He led the way to the stairs, and Jeremy reached out and tucked his fingers in Damon’s belt loops and hung on as they went up to the second floor. On the way, Jeremy stared at the pictures on the wall and the other things on shelves, vases, bottles, and then they were at the top of the stairs, and Damon walked a little further, past two doors and into a large bedroom.

“Wow, this is yours?” Jeremy asked. The room was huge, he thought that his bedroom and Elena’s could have fit inside, and there on the far wall was what he had wanted, a huge bed that practically had his name on it.

“I use it,” Damon said. “Not all of the rooms are inhabitable right now, this is fine.”

“Yeah, it is,” Jeremy said and wandered around the room, taking a slow route to his destination. There was a large desk sitting in front of a window, and Jeremy went over to it, slipping his shirt over his head as he looked over the stuff scattered over the desk. There was a picture of a woman on it, tucked between the pages of a book but sticking out enough that Jeremy could see part of her face. He tugged it out and stared at the picture. Holding it up, he turned to Damon. “This is Katherine?”

Damon had kicked off his boots, and dropped his coat on a chair and was unbuttoning his shirt, taking something shiny out of the cuffs and putting it on the desk as he came up beside Jeremy. There was no expression on his face, and the blankness was unnerving. “Yes, that’s her.”

“I can’t believe that this isn’t Elena, it looks just like her,” Jeremy said. “I mean, I get that it’s not her, but I’m saying that it’s freaky.”

“You have no idea,” Damon said, and took the picture away from Jeremy and tucked it back inside the book. He still looked serious, and Jeremy wondered if he should say something comforting, but he had no idea what would sound nice and not like he was trying too hard, so he decided not to try.

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, and as Damon dropped his shirt on the chair, he reached out to grab Damon’s belt, because it seemed like it was working as a way to pull Damon closer, and this made it easier to unzip Damon’s pants. When his fingers were resting on bare skin underneath, Jeremy’s throat was suddenly dry and he swallowed hard. “Is this okay?”

“Keep going,” Damon said, resting his hands on Jeremy’s shoulder, and when his pants slid down his legs, he stepped out of them and nodded at Jeremy. “Your turn now.”

If nothing else, this was making Jeremy really good at taking off his clothes fast, and when he was naked too, Damon nudged Jeremy toward the bed and sauntered after him, and as Jeremy climbed up onto the soft mattress, he glanced back and watched Damon moved slowly toward him. He was acting like he wasn’t in any hurry, and, Jeremy thought, that he was stalking something that he might want to take a bite out of once he got it pinned down. Jeremy didn’t take his eyes off Damon, trying to show that he knew what was going on. He still flinched when Damon crawled up on the bed and moved toward Jeremy quickly, somehow not looking like he was moving fast, until Jeremy was on his back and Damon was leaning over him with that wide disturbing grin on his face.

“Did you have plans?” Jeremy asked, proud of the way his voice didn’t shake even a little as Damon ran a hand up to his mouth, traced Jeremy’s lower lip, then went to his throat, and back up again. “And you can stop smiling like that any time now.”

Damon lowered his head and stared at Jeremy without blinking and then seemed to remember they were actually having a conversation. “Does it bother you?”

“Maybe a little,” Jeremy said. “Is there a reason why you’re acting way less human now?”

“We both know what I am,” Damon said, like that explained it, and his tone was so reasonable that Jeremy bet most people would nod along and let him rip their throats out. But, he kind of wanted that too, without having to die, and he was wondering about the change.

“Yeah, but usually you act normal,” Jeremy said. “I’ve never seen you act freaky like this.” He moved his head, dislodging Damon’s hand for a second and raised an eyebrow when Damon moved his hand right back to where it had been. “Or that, not what I’m used to.”

“Your experience is very limited,” Damon said and shook his head when Jeremy was going to protest. “No, it is, you’ve barely seen anything, in bed and out of it, and the sooner you accept that, the more you’ll be able to figure out.”

This was just the superior attitude that Jeremy hated in adults, and Tyler Lockwood, and he considered kneeing Damon in the stomach if he didn’t cut it out. “Can you give me a hint?”

“Why should I?” Damon asked. “It’s much more fun for you to fumble around.”

“Fun for you?” Jeremy asked, and when Damon nodded, Jeremy said to hell with being nice and jabbed Damon’s side with his knee. That got a reaction all right, Damon tossed his head back, and when he looked down, he had sharp teeth and veins were showing red and angry around his eyes.

“This is fun too,” Damon said, and then he darted in and put his teeth against Jeremy’s throat and bit down. He didn’t break the skin, but he came to within a millimeter of doing it, Jeremy had to hold absolutely still or he could tell his throat was going to be bitten, and Damon’s mouth felt like it was ready to take a bigger bite than Jeremy could stand. He trembled there in Damon’s grip, not sure if he should apologize or close his eyes, and in the end he waited until Damon raised his head and looked him in the face. His face was still scary, and Jeremy stared up at it.

“Yeah, I get it,” Jeremy said, and one hand went up to Damon’s mouth. “Can I see your teeth?” The only animals that had teeth like this were either behind tall fences or extinct, and Jeremy couldn’t get over how close he was to somebody who was only supposed to exist in stories. “I promise I won’t touch them,” Jeremy said. Unless Damon wouldn’t mind, then Jeremy was going to do what he had been thinking about and see how sharp they were.

Damon eased himself down so he had his arms on either side of Jeremy’s head, his hips on top of Jeremy’s lower body, and parted his lips. He didn’t bare his teeth, and the implication was there; if Jeremy wanted to find out, he had to make his move. It was as if this whole thing was a game, and Jeremy couldn’t ever just sit back, it took he had to participate every step of the way.

Jeremy had a sudden thought and laughed. “I just thought, this is sort of like hoping that a girl is going to take off her shirt.” When Damon raised an eyebrow, Jeremy winced. “Yeah, it’s not the same thing, but it feels a little like that, okay?” Nerves were making him talk fast again, but Damon was being patient for the moment, and Jeremy carefully put on finger on Damon’s lip and as he took a deep breath, pushed it inside. At first he couldn’t tell that there was anything different, but as he slid his finger to the side, it immediately bumped up against a sharpness that didn’t belong in a human mouth. When Damon didn’t do anything to stop Jeremy from exploring, he kept tracing his canines and frowned.

“Where do they come from? I mean, do you just have an extra set of teeth that come down, like a snake?” The red eyes were kind of easy to explain, it looked as if blood pooled in vampires’ eyes when they wanted to eat or bite somebody for the heck of it, but the teeth weren’t as easy for Jeremy to get his head around.

“I haven’t gotten ever gone to a dentist to find out,” Damon said. “We didn’t have to do that when I was your age.” He paused. “Most people were lucky if they had all their teeth.”

Jeremy grimaced. “That’s really gross.” He hadn’t pulled his hand back when Damon spoke, but left his fingers resting on Damon’s cheek, and he pushed his fingers back in, and when he touched a canine, it came down. The pressure was gentle; Damon wasn’t trying to take his finger off, but Jeremy’s eyes widened. “Hey, I need that.”

Damon nipped sharply at Jeremy's finger and then let go. “Be careful where you put your fingers, otherwise you might lose one.”

“You said I could touch them,” Jeremy said, because he wouldn't have otherwise, not without second thoughts.

“And I didn't say that I wouldn't bite,” Damon said. “You're looking for comfort in the wrong place, kid.”

“You told me that already,” Jeremy said. “It’s not going to scare me off.”

“Is that what you think? That I’m trying to save you from yourself?” Damon asked. He shifted and cupped Jeremy’s head with one hand, fingers scratching at the nape of his neck. “Why should I care?”

Jeremy had thought it over, why Damon would be stopping every so often to check in with Jeremy and ask him if he wanted to run the other way, and that had been the only answer he’d come up with. “Then, what are you doing?” Jeremy didn’t want to say that he hadn’t expected a vampire to care what he wanted, but that seemed to be obvious, and Damon would probably just laugh. “I mean, it’s not as if you haven’t done stuff with me.”

Damon raised an eyebrow. “If you can’t even say it, I don’t trust that you have any idea what you’re doing.”

Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes. There was Damon’s strange insistence on having Jeremy use his word. “Sex. With you, that I want to be having.” When Damon stared at him, Jeremy shrugged. “Okay, so my grammar isn’t perfect, but is that clear enough for you?”

“Getting there,” Damon said. He either didn’t care that when he smile he was showing his teeth or that was the point, and Jeremy had to keep himself from poking at them again. He lowered his head again, sniffing at Jeremy’s throat, right where he could feel his pulse thudding quickly just under the skin, and Jeremy lifted his chin, giving him easy access and thinking of animals showing their throats and waited breathlessly for Damon to accept the invitation.

Damon rested his teeth just under Jeremy’s chin, and then licked Jeremy’s throat, once, twice, and then sank his teeth in, and Jeremy gasped as he felt those teeth break his skin. He struggled a little, it was automatic, but when Damon pulled sharply on his hair, Jeremy arched his neck upward, into the bite, and relaxed.

It was hard to tell how long it went on, Jeremy counted his breaths, and then, as the pull of Damon’s mouth overpowered him, was only able to focus on the place where he could feel Damon’s teeth against his skin. It was like he was floating, only held down by Damon feeding off him, and if Damon didn’t hang on, Jeremy would lose himself in this wave of /pain-warm-yes-yes/. He managed to lift one of his hands and put it on Damon’s neck, pressing him closer, asking for it to go on, and just trying to keep hold of him somehow.

Finally, Damon withdrew, but rested his mouth on the wound for a second while Jeremy caught his breath. He turned to look at Damon as he moved slightly and thought hazily that it was made sense that he would look pleased with himself, because he had Jeremy’s blood on his lower lip, and when he smiled, his teeth. “Well, was it good for you?” Jeremy asked, and coughed. He was beginning to get feeling back, and his neck hurt.

Damon petted the bite mark, and Jeremy winced. “Very good.” When Damon didn’t stop poking at him, Jeremy swatted him in the head. He wasn’t feeling up to doing much more, but Damon seemed pleased with the move, and rolled off Jeremy and left the room. When he came back, he had a glass of water, which he gave to Jeremy and then set the glass on the nightstand. He climbed back into bed, and ignored Jeremy’s objections until he’d tugged him around and rearranged their limbs so Jeremy was resting his head on Damon’s shoulder. “I didn’t take a lot,” Damon said. “You’re going to be light headed for a few minutes, but it won’t hurt you.”

Jeremy’s fingers went up to the wound. “Is it going to leave a scar?”

Damon shrugged, his shoulder lifting Jeremy upwards slightly. “It might.”

“Good,” Jeremy said, and when Damon let out a laugh, blushed. “Shut up.” He was exhausted, which made sense, but he was also hyper aware of being sort of on top of Damon, and how easy it was to lay there and let Damon take his weight the way he’d done with his blood. When Jeremy hummed happily to himself and pushed his face against Damon’s shoulder, he got his hair pulled, though, and that was a reminder that he wasn’t just looking now, he’d stepped into the wilderness and Damon had caught him.

“I’m probably going to be sorry, but I’d still like an explanation for whatever happened here,” said a familiar voice, rousing Jeremy from sleep, and he turned over, squinting against the sunlight falling across the bed, and then his eyes opened wide when he saw Stefan standing in the doorway.

Damon was next to Jeremy, his head half buried under the pillow, and Jeremy jabbed him in the shoulder. “Hey, wake up,” Jeremy said frantically. Stefan was the nicer of the two brothers, the sane one, which was part of why Elena was dating him, the rest of it had to do with romance and a lot of longing looks that Jeremy wished he didn’t have to see when his sister and her boyfriend wanted to be mature adults instead of going off and having sex like most people would. So instead they sat at the dinner table and smiled at each other a lot until Jeremy couldn’t finish his dinner and told them that he’d clean up. It was what they wanted, and he always caught Elena’s little smile, but it was better than yelling at them to get laid already. But now Jeremy was trying to remember what he knew about Stefan’s moods, and if he was prone to yelling, because Jeremy didn’t know that his pounding headache wouldn’t kill him if Stefan made too much noise.

“Morning, Stefan,” Damon said, rolling over and looking way too pretty and pleased with himself for Jeremy’s peace of mind. He wanted to grab Damon and kiss him, and also shake him so that he would take this seriously.

“You’re in my bed,” Stefan said, voice flat, face expressionless. “And you have company.”

“This is your bed?” Jeremy said, trying not to sound hysterical, but sure that he wasn’t keeping his freakout under control. He punched Damon in the shoulder on general principle, and realized that somehow after he’d fallen asleep, his clothes had come off, and he was just wearing boxers.

Damon stretched slowly, arms wide, then folded his hands behind his head and grinned at Stefan. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and the point is that it’s mine, and that you’re in it.” Stefan paused to scrutinize Jeremy in a way that he felt really uncomfortable about. He was sure that his neck was still bloody, and that Stefan had seen it, or maybe even smelled it already. “Are you okay, Jeremy?” Stefan came over to the bed and reached out. When Damon didn’t move, Stefan motioned at Jeremy to get up. “Come on, let me get you out of here.”

“No, I’m fine where I am, except I’m sorry, I didn’t know this was your bedroom,” Jeremy said. He wanted to climb out of the way and let Damon and Stefan have the conversation they were clearly beginning with raised eyebrows and smirks, but he didn’t think it was very polite to steal somebody’s sheet when you’d just spent the night in his bed with his brother, and there was Jeremy’s headache coming on to make him want a whole bottle of Tylenol.

“My name isn’t on the door,” Stefan said, but he wasn’t really listening to Jeremy, and Jeremy could tell that he was going to be yelling any second now. Jeremy wasn’t the only one who had picked up on that, and Damon smiled at his brother, almost begging him to say something in front of their guest.  
“Jeremy-”Stefan began, and then he shook his head. “You should go home, I bet Elena is worried about you, and I need to talk to Damon.”

“You can talk to him right now,” Jeremy said, and that got him the attention of both brothers, Stefan's expression serious, Damon's eyes narrowed, but then he smiled and glanced at Stefan.

“See what I mean?” Damon moved his head to one side as Stefan sighed exaggeratedly and waved a hand at the bed and maybe the entire situation. “No, I didn't, he came to me,” Damon said, and when Stefan's expression shifted again, Damon groaned loudly. “Really, it's not as if I have to compel people into having sex with me, Stefan.”

“He didn't compel me,” Jeremy said, and got Stefan to look at him again. “I mean it, I've been talking to Alaric, and he said that I should have vervain on me all the time, so I have. I know what Damon is, and I'm not stupid.” But he was cold, and Jeremy tugged the sheet around himself more securely. “I didn't just wander in here, Stefan, I know what I'm doing.”

“You have no idea how many times I've heard that,” Stefan said. “But no matter what you think is going to happen, playing games with Damon never ends well for anybody but him.”

“Stefan, I'm not stupid, I know that I could get hurt.” But that was sort of the point, and Jeremy knew that Damon at least was okay with that and he didn't see why Stefan had to get involved. “Look, I'm sorry that you don't like this, but it's up to me who I hang out with, and right now that happens to be your brother.”

Damon coughed instead of laughing, but it was close, and Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. “I understand, Jeremy, and I would like to believe that this is all your idea, but Damon is dangerous, even if slightly reformed-” Damon scoffed loudly, and Stefan raised his voice. “But, if you think that nobody else is going to care about this, you haven't thought it through.” His voice lowered; he tried to sound reasonable. “Elena cares about you Jeremy, she wouldn't want you to get into something that would hurt you.”

“I've got the Gilbert ring,” Jeremy said, raising his hand and showing it off to Stefan. “Even if Damon does kill me, I'll come back.”

“Not if I cut the ring off your finger,” Damon said, and he sounded weirdly cheerful at the thought. Jeremy gave him a quelling look. “Oh, I'm supposed to be helping,” Damon said, and frowned. “Yeah, the ring helps, Stefan, he won't be in any more danger from me than anybody else in this town.”

“I'm not feeling any better about this,” Stefan said and put two fingers to his forehead as if he was getting a headache.

“Can you not tell Elena about this?” Jeremy asked. He wasn't holding out any hope for it staying a secret for long, Mystic Falls was a small town, and even though not everyone knew about vampires, social secrets seemed to fly under everyone's radar until there was a huge public scene. Jeremy didn't want to give them one, so he would have to deal with this soon, just not right away, not until he was sure of what it was going to be, if he could make it stick. “I know you guys can't keep things from each other for long, but just for a little while?” Jeremy wasn't looking at Damon, he didn't want to give Stefan a chance to think that this decision wasn't Jeremy's, and when he nodded, Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

“Just be careful,” Stefan said, and Jeremy nodded.

“I will.” When Stefan looked him over pointedly, Jeremy grimaced. “Oh yeah, I should probably get dressed and go. Somewhere else.”

“See you later, Jeremy,” Damon said and wiggled his fingers at Jeremy in a wave.

Dignity was way overrated, and Jeremy scrambled out of bed, found his clothes laid neatly over a chair and ran out the door and down the stairs. He slid his clothes on quickly and hurried out. Whatever Damon and Stefan said to each other, Jeremy hoped they didn't decide that compelling him was the answer. One hand went up to his neck where he felt dried blood. If he had to take vervain for a few days until he was sure Stefan would see things his way, he would, but he was going to see Damon again, on his terms.

It wasn’t usually so easy to sneak back into the house, not during the day, since Jenna was home a lot working on her thesis, but since Alaric’s car was in the driveway, Jeremy figured that she would be too busy to notice that he was hurrying inside.

Avoiding Elena was way harder, because she thought that she needed to check up on him, even though he knew what was out in the woods now, and in town, and wouldn’t do something stupid. From her point of view he knew that doing anything with Damon would qualify as dumb, but she didn’t exactly avoid him either. He’d been trying not to think about the way that they were a little weird around each other because it was freaky to think that he might be sleeping with a guy that his sister liked. But, she had Stefan, it shouldn't matter, and Jeremy didn't think anybody had any call to be jealous. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t tell him he should stay away from Damon, but Jeremy was hiding in the bathroom and taking a long shower before he worried about any of that.

As he turned off the water, he knotted a towel around his waist and took a look at his neck in the mirror. There was no way to hide the mark that Damon’s teeth had left, it looked just like what it was; somebody had bitten him, and not only that but the place Damon had bitten on his shoulder but not broken the skin was bruised too.

Girls had tricks for hiding marks like this, Jeremy had seen Elena with a few hickeys, and that had been traumatizing, but then he’d seen her take out some makeup, wipe it on a few times, and nobody could tell that her boyfriend liked to use his teeth. Granted Stefan didn’t leave obvious bites on her, and he seemed like the type to be almost too nice, but it wasn’t a bad idea, and Jeremy went digging through Elena’s bathroom drawer.

It would have been stupid to not at least wash the bite off, and Jeremy did that, wincing as the water stung his skin. The makeup didn’t feel much better, but when he spread it around, there was barely any sign of the mark, and if nobody looked too close, they wouldn’t be able to tell what had happened. When he heard Elena in the hallway, Jeremy shoved the makeup back inside the drawer and grabbed his clothes on the way out of the bathroom.

He walked past Elena without stopping and just nodded when she looked at him curiously. “You’re showering in the middle of the day now, Jer’?”

“I felt like it,” Jeremy said from his doorway. “So what?”

“Nothing, it’s just not like you,” Elena said, and started forward, looking concerned. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Elena, I had to take a shower, it’s not like I’ve turned into an alien.” That joke had gotten old pretty quickly, but sometimes when he was doing his homework at the dining room table, Jenna would stop in her tracks and mutter about testing him for enhanced reflexes or something, and Jeremy ended up throwing wadded up paper at her until she hurried out, laughing like it would never get old to tease him about actually caring about things.

“Okay,” Elena said and stared at him for a couple seconds longer than necessary. Jeremy fidgeted and felt water pooling by his feet.

“Do you mind, I’m kind of dripping on the floor here.” He waved a hand at his towel and lack of pants, and that made Elena smile.

“Oh yeah, I noticed, go on then.” She turned away, and Jeremy shut the door fast without slamming it, and breathed out in relief when he was sure she’d gone downstairs.

Dinner was fine, except for the awkward moment when Alaric came into the kitchen right behind Jenna and it was really obvious what they had been doing. Jeremy blinked at him and Alaric grinned and shrugged. When Elena caught sight of him, she bit her lip on a smile and waved a hand at Alaric’s hair. “You might want to, um, fix that.”

“Yeah, and your shirt’s buttoned the wrong way,” Jeremy said, and finished setting the table while Jenna squawked and Alaric laughed without sounding embarrassed. He sat down to dinner with them as if he’d come over to eat and not been with Jenna all day in her room, and Jeremy wanted to know how he managed to be so low key about it. It shouldn’t have been that hard, and he chewed thoughtfully on his asparagus and decided he’d ask Alaric how he did it, and hopefully Alaric wouldn’t immediately run to Elena or Jenna and get him in trouble any faster.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jeremy asked while they were washing the dishes. Jenna and Elena were arguing about popcorn versus chocolate snacks for movie watching, and Jeremy didn’t need to listen, because there would be both, but the two of them seemed to like the ritual.

Alaric wiped off a plate and squinted at it before he stuck it into the dishwasher. “Sure, Jeremy, what’s up?”

“Well, it’s kind of personal, so if you could not tell Aunt Jenna or Elena about it, that would be great,” Jeremy said. It wasn’t a very stealthy introduction to his problem, but he needed to know that he could trust Alaric before he spilled his guts.

“I won’t tell them unless you’re really in trouble,” Alaric said, and eyed Jeremy in that suspicious way that adults did when they were sure you had gotten into a huge mess, but they weren’t sure yet how much and if you were actually going to get punished before they helped you out.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Jeremy said and stuck a glass into the top dishwasher tray. “It’s like this, I’ve been hanging out with Stefan’s brother.”

“Damon?” Alaric asked, and he kept his voice down, but Jeremy still glanced toward the living room.

“Does Stefan have any other brothers?” Jeremy asked.

“No, just the one, and that’s more than enough Salvatores for this town to handle,” Alaric said, and shook his head. “Probably too much for the world, but there it is.” He kept washing dishes, and Jeremy did the same. It gave them a reason to still be in the kitchen, and the water covered most of what they were saying. “So you said you’ve been hanging out with Damon. How’s that going?”

Jeremy decided to go all in and tilted his head to one side to show off the bite mark. “It’s fine.”

Alaric’s mouth snapped shut and he put the glass he’d been rinsing down very carefully and reached out to touch the bite mark. “Turn your head to the right, now back toward me. When did this happen?”

“This morning,” Jeremy said. “I asked him to, okay? I know what you’re thinking and it’s not like that. No matter what Stefan says,” he added angrily, because that was going to blow up in his face soon with his luck and Stefan being in love with his sister.

“Wait, Stefan knows about this?” Alaric’s expression darkened, and Jeremy had to remind himself that he wasn’t a kid and Alaric didn’t have any control over him.

“Yeah, he sort of found us.” Jeremy’s face heated, and he coughed. “Do you know if Damon actually lives at the boarding house?”

“I think so,” Alaric said. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s just that I think he doesn’t have his own bedroom.” Jeremy paused as something else occurred to him. “Or maybe he just likes bugging Stefan?”

Alaric connected the dots and made a funny expression like he wanted to laugh or groan but still didn’t think it was all that funny. “It could be either or both of those things. So you were –“ he waved a hand, “with Damon, Stefan found you, and you want to know what you should do now?”

“I know what I’m doing and I want to keep doing it,” Jeremy said. “It’s not a problem, and I don’t want this getting back to my sister.” Elena would lock him in his room if she could and dose him with vervain every chance she got, and would completely miss the point. Jeremy didn’t need protecting, and he didn’t know of a good way to fill her in on that fact.

“You do know that it will, and soon,” Alaric said. “It might not be my place to talk to Elena, but I do know Damon, and he’s going to piss Stefan off enough that he’ll have to tell Elena eventually.”

“So what do I do?” Jeremy asked. “I know what Damon is, and he gave me a whole bunch of chances to get out, and I told him that’s not what I wanted.” If he’d been able to, Jeremy thought Damon might have made Jeremy sign a consent form every step of the way before he bit him. “It was kind of strange,” Jeremy began and Alaric grabbed another glass and began rinsing it off, eyebrows raised. “I thought that Damon would jump me and not care whether I wanted it or not.”

“Damon has a history of giving people what they want, if they want it badly enough,” Alaric said shortly, and Jeremy wondered what had made him look sick to his stomach. “If you didn’t let up, and begged him to do whatever it is you two did, which I don’t want to know about in case I’m asked, then yeah, I can see him taking the time to do it the way you asked.” He sighed. “Jeremy, I’m not going to lie, I think this is an incredibly bad idea, and you may know what Damon is, but you don’t know much about him, and he is dangerous, not just because he’s a vampire.”

“What other way could he be dangerous?” Jeremy asked. The sharp teeth, speed, and strength were really cool, but Jeremy was learning that vampires didn’t think much of using them on humans whenever they wanted and without asking.

Alaric stared at Jeremy for a minute and then put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I came to Mystic Falls looking for a vampire and planning on killing him. Now I’m working with two of them.”

“Why were you after a vampire?” Jeremy asked. “I didn’t believe they were real until I went looking for them.”

“They took somebody I loved away from me,” Alaric said and laughed. “Yeah, everybody has their disbelief taken away from them, mine was a little more dramatic than in your case.”

“Did you find the vampire?” Jeremy asked. He’d seen all the weapons Alaric had, and he was definitely serious about hunting supernatural stuff, and he really seemed like he knew what he was doing.

“Oh, I found him,” Alaric said and smiled at Jeremy. “You’re sleeping with him.”

Jeremy’s mouth fell open. “Damon?”

“What about Damon?” Jenna asked from behind them and Jeremy turned around to smile weakly at her.

“Nothing, Alaric and I were just talking about the Salvatore family, you know, history stuff.” He waved a hand and tried to look as if he was almost too bored to tell her about the conversation.

“Come on, guys, this isn’t the classroom, you should take a break,” Jenna said and came over to pat Alaric on the arm. “Give it a rest for one night, all right?”

“Sorry,” Alaric said and smiled at her. “You know how I get about this kind of thing.”

Jenna rolled her eyes and tried to look like she minded when Alaric got academic. “Yeah, I know better than to take you to look at the Founders Archives, I’ll never be able to pry you out of there.”

“Sounds like a fun afternoon,” Jeremy said and dodged out of the way when Jenna aimed a smack at his shoulder.

“That’s enough out of you, why don’t you make some popcorn?”

“Do you guys need the chocolate bars too?” Jeremy asked innocently and Jenna glared at him.

“Yes, your sister insists we need them.”

“I’ll find them,” Jeremy said, and hurried to grab a couple bars of chocolate out of the cupboard, and kept his head down and mouth shut as he thought about what Alaric had said and tried to decide what he should do next.

As it turned out, Jeremy got a couple of days to work out a plan to deal with his problem, and he took advantage of them to work on a strategy that didn’t involve anybody getting hurt and with a minimum of yelling.

He had a couple of ideas when it would be the best time to break the news, but when he startled awake on the couch in the boarding house to find Elena staring down at him, hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised and Stefan standing behind her Jeremy knew that he just had to get through this mostly intact.

“Hi.”

“Jeremy, what are you doing here?”

Glancing around him didn’t give Jeremy any clues as to how long Elena and Stefan had been watching him sleep while he waited for Damon to get home, but at least they probably didn’t know that he’d snuck in right after fifth period because sixth was a study hall this semester and nobody expected him to show up to that anyway. He’d started studying more but he didn’t need more of a reputation, of any kind this year, and it was quiet in the boarding house so he had gotten almost two chapters read and taken notes too. Motioning at the book and papers spread out across the table next to him, Jeremy shrugged. “I was studying.”

“In Stefan’s living room.” Elena said, like this was the most important detail and she was going to focus on it and ignore everything else.

“It’s nice here,” Jeremy said. That was weak, but he was still groggy and had a crick in his neck from the way he’d been sleeping. He nodded at Stefan. “But you should really get a couple more pillows for this couch.”

Stefan smiled a little bit. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He glanced sideways at Elena. “But, I think your sister has a couple of questions for you.”

“I do,” Elena said and reached out to grab Jeremy’s shirt. “Starting with, how did you get that bite on your neck?”

Jeremy stared past Elena at Stefan accusingly and got an unapologetic look in return. “I got bitten.”

Elena snorted. “I noticed, Jeremy, what I want to know is how it happened and who I need to kill.”

“Nobody needs to get killed,” Jeremy said loudly and sat upright. “I’m serious, this isn’t something that you need to get upset about, if you hadn’t found out about it you wouldn’t care, so let’s go with that, okay?” He winced when Elena grabbed him by the chin and jerked his head around so he had to look her in the eye.

“No, it’s actually not okay, because you got attacked, and compelled by some vampire and you don’t even know it.” Elena’s voice trembled slightly. “I’ve been trying to protect you, Jeremy, and I should never have let you get involved in any of this.”

“You’re not having my memory erased again,” Jeremy said and shook his head. “I’ll take more vervain, or, I’ll leave, and you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“Yeah, because that’s a rational and mature way to handle all of this,” Damon said, and Jeremy wanted to sag back on the couch in relief and then punch Damon for being so damn unhelpful.

“Stay out of it, Damon,” Elena said. “This is between me and my brother.”

“I believe it’s between you and the bloodsucking bastard who bit your precious little brother,” Damon said, walking unhurriedly into the living room and coming to stand beside the couch. As he spoke, Elena’s head lifted slowly and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“What do you know about it?” She glanced from him to Jeremy and back again, shaking her head wildly. “No, what would you get out of hurting him besides getting back at me?” Her lip twisted in disgust and Jeremy pulled away and stood up.

‘Hey, I’m standing right here,” Jeremy said, but Elena reached out and patted him like she was afraid he was going to break.

“I know, but don’t worry, we’ll take care of this.”

“No, you won’t,” Jeremy said and glared at Damon. “I’ve been waiting for you to get back.”

“So I see.” Damon nodded at Stefan and Elena. “The happy couple found you first, though, this puts a damper on the evening.”

“Not if they’d mind their own business,” Jeremy said. “I came here because I was interested, and Damon hasn’t done anything that I didn’t ask for, more than once.” He pointed at the bite mark that Elena had been staring at while trying not to do more than wince. “This wasn’t him attacking me, you got it?” Jeremy raised his chin defiantly. “The only part of this that hasn’t been my idea was when Stefan walked in on us.” Now he did eye Damon curiously. “You mind telling me why we were making out in your brother’s bed?”

“Oh my god,” Elena said faintly, and Damon smirked.

“I hope Stefan changed the sheets before you came over last night.”

“I did, don’t worry,” Stefan said, and Elena turned on him.

“How long have you known this was going on, and when we you going to tell me?”

“I was hoping it would sort itself out first,” Stefan said. “I did tell you today, remember?”

“Only after I asked where Jeremy was, and I figured out the rest for myself,” Elena said dangerously, and Jeremy was glad she wasn’t looking at him at the moment. “This is not going to keep going on, Damon. You need to stop it and leave Jeremy alone.”

“No,” Jeremy said and everybody looked at him. “None of you can decide what's best for me, got it?”

“Damon is just using you, and you can't even tell,” Elena said. She pointed at Jeremy's wrist. “You're not wearing your bracelet.”

“Uh, no, I don't always wear it,” Jeremy said, not sure why it mattered.

“It has vervain in it,” Damon said suddenly, and Jeremy looked at him. “I could smell it. Stefan made it so that you'd be safe from compulsion, but nobody told you so you never knew why you should wear it all the time.” He smirked. “You guys really need to start sharing.”

“Shut up, Damon,” Elena said, and reached for Jeremy's wrist. “I'm taking you home, we'll figure out something then, just, come on.”

Jeremy twisted out of her grip and ignored the way Elena's face fell. “I told you, I'm not going.”

“Jer-” Elena's expression changed, and Jeremy knew she was about to do something really big sister-ish of her and that he didn't have much time before he was maybe knocked out and taken home for his own good. He glanced at Damon, who was standing too far away for him to grab, and Stefan was standing in between them anyway, giving his brother a warning look that Damon seemed to find hilarious.

“I said I'm staying,” Jeremy said, and then, out of desperation he did the only thing he could think of and dropped to his knees. Elena let out a choked noise, Stefan blinked rapidly and turned his head sharply to look at his brother, and Damon stared at Jeremy. When he didn't smile or say anything, Jeremy's stomach twisted, because all of this only worked if Damon was going to let him stay. “I mean, if you'll let me.” Still nothing, and Jeremy swallowed hard and said softly, “Please.”

Damon laughed, and it wasn't mean, but it still made Stefan flinch. Jeremy couldn't help it, he moved toward Damon just a little, swaying but not getting off the floor until he was sure, until he was told he could. “You just aren't going to give up, are you?” Damon asked, and he stepped by Stefan, as if his brother wasn't glaring at him and didn't look at Elena, who was about to punch him even though it wouldn't bother Damon at all.

Jeremy shook his head. “I said I was going to stay, and I meant it.” So long as Damon would let him, that was, and he still was waiting for Damon to tell him as much. He didn't know if he should put his face on the floor or something, but Jeremy stared up at Damon from his position on his knees and hoped that he was doing this the right way.

Damon kept staring at Jeremy, and he walked in a circle around him, silent and nothing on his face showing what he was thinking. “You'll do,” Damon said, and Jeremy sagged forward in relief. He was trying to pretend that he and Damon were the only ones in the room because if he thought too hard about the fact that his sister and her boyfriend were seeing this then he was going to die of embarrassment. Damon spun around and spread his arms. “Well, does that clear things up for you two?”

“Oh my god,” Elena said, and Jeremy could see that she was digging her fingernails into Stefan's arm. “Jeremy, please, you can't be serious about this.”

Jeremy was glad that Damon was standing sort of in front of him, and close enough that Jeremy could lean forward slightly and just rest against Damon's legs.

“He asked nicely,” Damon said. “This isn't up to you anymore, Elena.” Just when it looked like Elena was going to try and go after Damon with her bare hands, she nodded once and then stepped back.

“Maybe not, but I don't want to see you around for awhile, Damon.” She glanced past him to Jeremy. “Jenna is going to come looking for you if you don't come home tonight.”

“What-” Jeremy couldn't breathe around the relief that he wasn't going to be dragged away from Damon. “What are you going to tell her?”

“That you'll be home later,” Elena said flatly. “We're going to talk about this, Jeremy, I'm serious.”

“Run along now,” Damon said. “I'll send him home when I'm done with him.” He was still smiling, and he put a hand on Jeremy's head while he stared Stefan and Elena down. They walked out, but Elena looked back over her shoulder at Jeremy, and he knew that she wasn't going to give up, not until she got the answer she wanted, and if it was up to Jeremy that meant this would be an argument they would have for a long time.

Jeremy was still on his knees, but his legs were starting to get sore by the time he heard the front door close. He glanced up at Damon when he moved away and went to pour himself a drink. “What are we going to do?”

“I'm going to have a drink,” Damon said, and did that, then he downed it really fast, like he was so used to alcohol that it was like water or something to him, and maybe it was, and then he had another, and a third. Jeremy didn't know if he should get up or not, and when Damon didn't look at him and went over to sit on the couch, Jeremy cleared his throat.

“Um, I mean, what should I do?”

Damon set his glass down and made a thoughtful noise as he looked Jeremy over again slowly, taking his time about it, somehow with even more intensity than he had when Stefan and Elena had been there.

“That depends on what you've earned.”

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked. “I haven't done anything.”

“Well, that's not exactly true, is it?” Damon said. “You're here now.”  
That hadn't occurred to Jeremy, but he had made a statement by standing up to his sister and Stefan, and he'd chosen to stay, even though she wasn't happy about it. At this point, nothing was going to hold him back, unless it was him not having a clue about what he should be doing.

Jeremy had seen some porn, he had the internet, and he got horny, so nothing strange there. He tried not to think about Jenna or Elena checking his internet history, so he cleared that daily, but there were a couple of sites that he'd bookmarked and kept coming back to every single time. With Vicki and anybody else he'd fooled around with, he'd been the one in control, or at least had a say about what they were doing, even though he really liked going along with what somebody else wanted.

Girls were great, he loved the way they felt, and sounded, but until Anna, none of them had been strong enough that he could push and they would push back even harder. There were a couple of guys at school that Jeremy had thought about hooking up with, Tyler was an asshole most of the time, but there was something about him when he wasn't around everybody else that made Jeremy think it could be fun.

Even so, he wasn't stupid enough to try anything with a guy who had been threatening to kick his ass since they were kids, and there wasn't anybody else that he liked that way, at least not until Damon showed up and started throwing Jeremy around. He treated Jeremy like he had no idea what was going on, but from what Jeremy had seen, Damon thought the same thing about most people. Not letting up, though, that had worked so far, and Jeremy smiled hesitantly at Damon, whose expression didn't shift, still a smile and half closed eyes.

Jeremy wanted to get up off the floor, but something would happen if he did, and somehow he knew he wouldn't like it, not the way he did all the stuff Damon had done so far. “Am I in trouble?” Jeremy wasn't sure if that was the right question, but he couldn't take Damon not doing anything, or even talking to him.

“I think a better question is would you like to be in trouble,” Damon said. He sounded matter of fact, as if he already knew what Jeremy’s answer would be and was four moves ahead. “I would say that given what you’ve been up to the last couple of days, you really do.”

Jeremy strained toward Damon’s voice, the way he lingered over each word like it tasted so good that he couldn’t help but turn it over in his mouth as he spoke. “Anything, I, just-” he fumbled to put together what he was after, and was about to get up and try grabbing Damon just to see what he would do when Damon came over to stand in front of him. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and rubbed his fingers against each other. What he didn’t do was what Jeremy needed, which was to be touched, acknowledged by more than words. Damon could have been talking to himself for all the attention he had been giving Jeremy.

“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Damon said. “If I were somebody different, you would have been brought into this carefully, but then,” and his eyes widened, blue searing cold and impenetrable like a glacier about to slide sideways, “if I was anybody else, you wouldn’t be here in the first place, so let’s start with that.” He put his hand in the air just above Jeremy’s head, and Jeremy immediately lifted his chin so Damon’s fingers were resting on his hair. It was a light touch and would have barely counted anywhere else, but it made Jeremy sigh in relief. Damon noticed, and nodded. “You really would let me do anything without thinking to set limits, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s what this is about,” Jeremy said. “I’m not supposed to be the one giving the orders.”

“No, you’re not,” Damon said, and his hand rested more firmly on Jeremy’s head. His fingers ran very gently through his hair, and it felt so good that it was hard for Jeremy to keep his eyes open. “And that’s good.” He kept petting Jeremy’s hair, and Jeremy’s hands clenched where they were resting on his thighs.

“Can I ask a question?”

“At this very moment, you can, but I may gag you, so the correct question is whether you may ask a question,” Damon said, eyes on Jeremy’s face so he caught his reaction to the thought of not being able to to talk, or yell, or scream.

“I’m sorry, may I ask a question?”

Damon hummed pleasantly. “Yes, you may.”

“What do you get out of this? I know that it’s got to be better than sitting around all day, but I have no idea what I’m doing, it’s going to be a pain to teach me,” Jeremy said. He thought it would be painful for him too, and was still processing how much that didn’t bother him.

“This is its own reward,” Damon said. “Trust me.”

“Can I?” Jeremy asked. “I mean, that’s the big question, isn’t it? Are you going to get bored and kill me?”

“You do have a ring that makes it harder for that to stick,” Damon said, but shrugged. “I do get bored easily, it’s one problem with having a lot of time on your hands.”

“Now you’ve got me on your hands,” Jeremy said. “I just want to know that you’re going to keep up your end of this and not walk off if it gets hard.”

Damon smirked. “Are you planning on being difficult, Jeremy?” It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but Jeremy grinned back.

“It’s something I’m good at.”

“Me too,” Damon said confidingly. “If anybody is going to be able to tell when you want to be entertained, it’s going to be me.” His grin looked way too bright to be friendly. Because of course it wasn’t enough that Damon was a vampire, that had only pulled Jeremy in partway, there was the thing where he was about as stable as lava, and Jeremy knew there was no way to way softly around somebody like that. “You’d be better off thinking of ways to keep me amused, otherwise I’ll start with my favorites, and that,” Damon said with frightening assurance, “would be a very exciting way to begin.”

“We’ve had sex,” Jeremy said. “I think this has already started.”

“Yes, but then you had to have more,” Damon said. “It wasn’t enough to have an orgasm or two, no you wanted the whole package, and who can blame you, but that means there are new rules.”

“Mind telling me what some of them are?” Jeremy asked. “I got that you like me on my knees.” His muscles were cramping and he knew that when he had to move it was going to feel like pins and needles and he’d be lucky not to fall face first into the carpet.

“It’s a very good look for you,” Damon said, obviously pleased, and Jeremy glared up at him.

“Thanks, I think.” Jeremy winced when Damon curled his fingers and yanked his head back suddenly. “Ow, what was that for?”

“You like to talk back,” Damon said. “That kind of thing gets you trouble, but not the kind you like.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like you’ve ever worried about that,” Jeremy said and caught a flash of expression cross Damon’s face and then disappear like he’d imagined it.

“You’d be surprised,” Damon said and pulled Jeremy’s head back farther so his neck was arched painfully and leaned down to put his mouth on the bite mark he’d left earlier. “But now you do, so watch it.” He let Jeremy inhale, and then he grabbed him around the throat, squeezing sharply, and when Jeremy reached up to try and free just enough to breathe, Damon rested his forehead against Jeremy’s and hummed again. Jeremy couldn’t identify the song, it sounded familiar, but all of his brain was taken up with trying to breathe, and he struggled a little before he relaxed into Damon’s hold and was rewarded with a couple seconds of unobstructed breathing.

“I get it,” Jeremy rasped, and Damon’s fingers tightened again. “Wha-“ Jeremy had understood what Damon was trying to say, at least he thought he had, and this time it didn’t take him as long to go limp, and Damon laid him down on the rug and straddled him, hand still resting on his throat, but stroking lightly at Jeremy gasped and blinked tears out of his eyes.

“It’s not up to you,” Damon said, and Jeremy nodded weakly. “Got it?”

Jeremy couldn’t speak on the first try and it took him a couple seconds to get himself together enough to respond. “Yes,” he said, winced and tried again. “I do, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, I don’t mind if you run your mouth,” Damon said. “You just need to know what the consequences are next time it happens.”

That made sense, and Jeremy didn’t say it, but he knew that he would say the wrong thing or maybe just annoy Damon and it would happen again, so it was good to know there would be a punishment. “Okay,” Jeremy said.

“Now,” Damon said briskly, “let's see about getting you sorted out.” He didn’t explain what that meant, but the way he said it was enough of a hint that Jeremy forgot for a moment about how uncomfortable he was and as Damon tightened and relaxed his fingers on Jeremy’s throat in a rhythm, he realized it was in time with his heartbeat, and felt himself start to breathe more slowly, trying to sync them together. It seemed important, but it took longer than he wanted, and it was minutes later that Damon nodded slightly and patted Jeremy’s cheek once and then let go of his throat.

“Take off your clothes,” Damon said, and Jeremy blinked, startled.

“Right here?” Jeremy asked, and closed his mouth when Damon gave him a warning look. “Sorry.

“You need to learn some restraint,” Damon said. “That means you keep your mouth shut and do what I say.” He stood back, the loss of contact almost painful and it was obviously a punishment, and Jeremy scrambled to get undressed.

He hadn’t been told that he could get up, so he stayed on the floor, and shifted with a grimace as he knelt down again and got a slight nod from Damon. “That’s better.”

“There are a lot of ways we can do this,” Damon said, and his voice took on an almost lecturing tone that would have fit in a classroom, and Jeremy thought it was sort of appropriate because he was learning all of this, but it was still a disconnect to hear Damon talk that way. “You’re going to screw up, just know that now, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep going.” Damon laughed. “Mistakes are one of my favorite things.”

Jeremy nodded but didn’t speak. He hoped that staying quiet and staring at Damon’s boots was enough of a sign that he would try not to screw up that he could do something, anything soon. Just sitting still without knowing what he was supposed to do was hard enough, not asking questions made him twitchy.

Damon had picked up on it, and he sat down on the couch, legs spread slightly, body language relaxed. “Come here,” he said, and Jeremy froze. He hadn’t been told he could get up, and then he decided there was one way not to get in trouble, and crawled across the floor to kneel by Damon’s feet. That got him another smirk, and Jeremy was beginning to realize that there were variations on the expression, and this one was pleased. “You’ve earned three questions,” Damon said. “Ask me anything and I’ll answer you honestly.”

Jeremy folded his hands in his lap and tried to come up with the questions he most wanted answered, because he had a lot of them. “How long is this going to go on?”

“How do you mean?” Damon asked. One hand was resting on his knee and if Jeremy leaned closer he could have touched him but he already knew better than to try it.

“Are you going to get bored with me and dump my body in the woods?” Jeremy asked. He couldn’t blame Damon for Vicki attacking him, but Damon had still been the one to turn her into a vampire and then not cared enough to make sure that she was okay and he could hear it in his voice.

“Only if you annoy me,” Damon said. “You’re not Vicki, Jeremy. This isn’t the same thing.”

“Then this isn’t about turning me into a vampire,” Jeremy said, careful not to make it a question, he didn’t want to waste one on something when he was almost sure he knew the answer.

“If it was, there are easier ways to do it,” Damon said. “You’re not the only confused teenager in this town.”

Jeremy wanted to roll his eyes but held back and hoped that Damon noticed the effort. “Okay, my second question is who taught you all of this?” He waved a hand and Damon’s smile tightened.

“That one I bet you can guess on your own.”

Jeremy had wondered, but he barely knew anything about Damon or Stefan and the vampire who had made them like her. “Katherine.”

“Yeah.” Damon didn’t offer anything else, but his expression was distant suddenly like a switch had been thrown, and the change was sudden enough that Jeremy was thrown off balance. “She had her strong points.”

“You were talking about her to Mason Lockwood, before you-” Jeremy made himself get the words out, “killed him.”

“Is there a question in there somewhere?”

“You made it sound like she did that a lot, dated them and then then dumped them,” Jeremy said. “Is that what happened to you?” He cringed, because he hadn’t meant to make it sound like Damon was a pathetic loser, but it had come out that way.

“Katherine likes to use people,” Damon said slowly. “Even if she does care, it’s all a game for her, and she’s good at it.”

That wasn’t an answer, and Jeremy stared hard at Damon. “So that's who you learned it from.” He hadn't used up all of his questions, and Damon shook his head slightly; he'd caught what Jeremy was doing and wasn't going to let him do it much longer.

“I learned a lot of things from Katherine,” Damon said, and his voice was light, the way it had been when he’d been interrogating Mason and talking about Katherine. He might have meant it, but Jeremy didn’t think he was actually happy when he mentioned her. There was a lot to the story, more than anybody had been willing to tell him so far, and he didn’t have enough questions to find out everything. Considering what he’d asked already, Jeremy tried to phrase what he wanted to know in the right way.

“Are you going to do something besides make me sit here all day?” It wasn’t the only thing he wanted to know, but the way that Damon’s fingers were moving, sharp and jerky warned Jeremy that he probably wasn’t going to like what happened if he kept pushing.

“That’s what you wanted to know?” Damon asked. He didn’t look like he believed it and Jeremy shrugged uncomfortably.

“For now, yeah, I think my legs have gone to sleep.”

“Hmm,” Damon said and reached out. He grabbed Jeremy by the back of his neck and yanked him to his feet, ignoring the yelp that Jeremy let out when all the blood rushed back into his legs. He swayed back and then flopped forward into Damon’s chest and didn’t bother trying to stand on his own, any contact was a good thing, and Damon let him stand there for a couple seconds and then squeezed his neck hard. “Enough of that come on.”

Jeremy had run out of questions and tried to look curiously at Damon without opening his mouth and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an explanation. It was easy to go where Damon directed him, and that was up the stairs to what Jeremy now knew was Stefan’s bedroom and he stopped in his tracks, Damon coming up behind him, body pressed against his back.

“Go on,” Damon said. “You’ve been here before, this part you liked.”

Jeremy wanted to ask why Damon was doing all of this in his brother’s bedroom when he knew Stefan would either catch them or find out what they were doing and get pissed off, and that was if he and Elena didn’t come over and want to use the bedroom. That line of thinking made Jeremy’s brain freeze, because he didn’t want to think about what that would mean and didn’t take another step.

“If you don’t do this on your own, I’m going to help you,” Damon said. “That isn’t going to be as much fun as if you do what you’re told.”

Not knowing what else to do, Jeremy lifted a hand like this was the weirdest classroom he’d ever been in and Damon snorted, ruffling the hair on Jeremy’s neck. “If you’re wondering, I’m not going to spare the rod, but go on.”

“Why don’t we go someplace else?” Jeremy asked. “This is Stefan’s room.”

Damon tugged him back so Jeremy was resting all his weight against Damon’s body and rested his chin on Jeremy’s shoulder. “Yes it is and I like it just fine.” His fingers clamped down and Jeremy squirmed. “Now, either move or I’ll make you.”

“Got it,” Jeremy said and went over to the bed, his eyes fixing on random things in the room until all that he could see was the bed and he had to stumble or crawl up onto the mattress. Damon kept him from doing that, and used the hand on his neck to shove him face first into the mattress. Jeremy turned his head at the last second so he could breathe and let out an indignant noise, not sure why hesitating got him in trouble.

“You have to know that I’m the one making the decisions,” Damon said, his lower body pressing against Jeremy’s. “If you don’t get what’s going on, that’s not your problem because it’s not up to you.”

Jeremy tried to nod but could barely move his head. He tucked his chin down a little and could still breathe through his mouth and even saw a little bit of Damon, but he couldn’t stand up or do more than move his arms and make noise and the idea made him shiver.

“That’s it,” Damon said softly, hand still on Jeremy’s neck, but the grip not quite so tight. “Ease into it, you’re getting there.”

It didn’t make sense, not to Jeremy, but he wasn’t struggling, but if he forgot about where he was and thought about Damon touching him, it was easier to stand not knowing what was going to happen to him. He felt himself relaxing more as he let go of even the idea that he was in control, and when he was completely focused on Damon and almost felt like he was floating, disconnected to everything except Damon’s hands, Damon moved.

“See, that’s better,” Damon said, leaning over so he was spread out along Jeremy’s back, his body cooler than Jeremy was used to, but a solid presence that grounded him. Damon brushed his nose against Jeremy’s cheek and when Jeremy turned his head further so he could see Damon’s face, he got a kiss on his eyebrow. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I think you’re ready for a little more.”

Even thinking about talking made Jeremy confused, it was nice to forget that he had to do that, right now there was nothing except the reality that Damon had him and nothing could happen to him that Damon didn’t allow.

Damon’s free hand rested on Jeremy’s hip for a couple of seconds and then he slid it underneath him and undid Jeremy’s belt buckle. He tugged that free and set it on the bed beside Jeremy’s head so he could see it and then Damon tugged off his pants and boxers. His clothes were still on, and that felt strange, denim and cotton against his bare skin, but Jeremy waited for Damon’s next move.

When he picked up the belt and let go of Jeremy’s neck it was to wind the belt around one hand. Jeremy’s eyes widened as he took that in. He could connect the dots and knew what was next, and didn’t know that he liked it.

Damon sensed that he was unhappy and bent down to knead the nape of his neck. “This is going to hurt. But you’re going to love it.”

Jeremy’s breath caught as Damon straightened up, and he would have tried to roll over, but Damon had pinned him to the bed and he couldn’t get away. He listened for every little sound that might tell him when Damon was going to strike, but all he heard was the creaking of leather and Damon very pointedly not breathing. Then, the air was displaced suddenly, and the belt hit Jeremy’s skin with a sharp noise and Jeremy yelled.

He hadn’t meant to, he’d wanted to stay quiet, show Damon that this wasn’t a big deal and that he could handle whatever a vampire came up with, but Damon knew the way to hit Jeremy so that it stung and burned at the same time. Jeremy gasped and reached back, trying to grab hold of Damon, but his hands were batted away.

“That was one, Jeremy, you’re not done yet.”

“How many?” Jeremy asked.

“One because you ran out of here today, and one for every hour you weren’t sure enough to actually find me,” Damon said and added, voice low and inviting, “and then, five more just because I can.”

Jeremy nodded, because he’d asked and grabbed handfuls of the bedspread to brace himself and held his breath only to have it knocked out of him with the first smack of the belt.

It would have been easy to forget that he wanted this, had asked for it, and Jeremy could feel his mind going to that place; offering him the option that would get him out of this. Other places were safe, nobody would hurt him, and he knew that. Another blow fell and Damon hummed at him, and Jeremy wouldn’t kid himself. He wouldn’t go looking for somebody to get him out of this, because this was exactly what he hadn’t been able to get from anybody else. Damon wasn’t giving him leeway, and he wouldn’t stop until he was done. Jeremy groaned as the belt hit a spot that was getting sore and felt his eyes begin watering.

“Please-” his voice was funny, thick and fuzzy, and his backside hurt, but somewhere around the fourth time Damon struck him, Jeremy felt his cock hardening against the bed and by the sixth, he’d arched himself up into the next blow.

“Now you’ve got it,” Damon said, and laughed. He didn’t say anything more, and Jeremy lost count, caught between the pain and not knowing where he’d be hit next and the fact that he was hard. When Damon stopped, Jeremy’s chest was heaving as he gasped for breath, and he let go of the covers and tried to sneak his hand underneath his hips to grab his cock.

Damon caught his hand and wrenched his arm up behind his back, securing it just above his tailbone and leaned down. “Why would you even think that’s for you?”

Jeremy shook his head wildly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“No, you really did,” Damon said, but he sounded pleased. “You should know better, I didn’t tell you that you could.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Jeremy said and waited to see if Damon was going to use the belt again. He didn’t think he was going to be able to sit down for the rest of the day, but he kind of wanted more, or something else.

“Now let’s see what we’ve got,” Damon said and flipped Jeremy onto his back. He still had the belt in one hand and tapped it lazily against his leg as he stared down at Jeremy. There was no hiding anything from him and Jeremy still had to tell himself not to move when Damon’s fingers skated over his stomach and stopped short of going any lower. “Nice,” Damon said, and Jeremy blushed. “Don’t try to hide,” Damon said. “That’s not up to you.”

At this rate, Jeremy was going to be apologizing all the time, and he was freaked out that sooner or later, Damon would get annoyed that Jeremy couldn't get something so simple right. He bit his tongue so hard that he tasted blood and only nodded, keeping his face pressed into the bed.

“Okay,” Jeremy said, because it was better than saying he was really sorry again, and he felt Damon's hand relax on his back.

“All right, then,” Damon said. He cupped Jeremy’s chin and tipped his head back, tongue sliding over Jeremy’s mouth, and then darting inside and tasting his blood. “Delicious,” he said, and he sounded happy about Jeremy bleeding, which made sense and Jeremy opened his mouth wider so Damon could take what he wanted.

“Thank you,” Jeremy said and nudged his face under Damon’s chin and breathed out heavily. His tongue was sore, but he deliberately licked his lips so there was more blood and then kissed Damon, hoping he’d take more of his blood. It was a little freaky to think that he was giving Damon his blood, but it was also making him hot, and when Damon took over the kiss, Jeremy let his head fall back onto the bed as Damon covered him with his body.

He still had his shirt on, but Damon wrestled him out of it in a second, and Jeremy grinned when he was able to moved along Damon’s body, wrap his legs around Damon’s hips and grind against him for a minute. He didn’t do it for very long, Damon’s jeans were a major issue, but it was enough of a suggestion that Damon eyed him knowingly and sat up to strip off his shirt.

Jeremy stayed where he was, but began working on Damon’s pants. He was careful to only touch him a little bit, as he kept his eyes down and focused on what he was doing to show that he was paying attention to the rules, even the ones he hadn’t been told yet and was guessing at. The care got him a kiss that bruised his mouth and then they were lying on the bed without anything between them, and Jeremy was hanging onto Damon and not even pretending he didn’t need it. Being on his back was hard, not just because he was sore, but he wanted to jerk off and couldn’t.

Damon wasn’t in a hurry, but his hands weren’t gentle on Jeremy, and he pulled his hips down and then angled them upward so that their cocks were pressed together and then he went for Jeremy’s neck again.

The bite mark had only started to scab over, and Damon opened it up again and sucked lightly and then moved downward and sank his teeth into Jeremy's shoulder. When he lifted his head, his mouth was bloody, and he showed Jeremy his teeth and then ducked his head again and moved down his chest. When he rested his teeth against one of Jeremy's nipples, he had to feel the way Jeremy had frozen underneath him, and he was letting Jeremy realize what was going to happen, and then he bit down.

“Oh, shit-” Jeremy said and his hands came up to grab Damon's hair. He wasn't trying to pull him away, it was an automatic reaction, but almost immediately the sensation of Damon feeding on him overwhelmed Jeremy and he lifted his hips into Damon's and knew he was going to start begging any moment now.

“Damon, please-” That was all that Jeremy could put into words, and he knew it wasn't going to stop Damon and that he didn't want him to, he just couldn't stay quiet.

Sex with Vicki and Anna had been fun; sweet with Vicki, because he wanted to make things good for her and hadn’t wanted to remind her of Tyler, and then wild with Anna who knew things Jeremy hadn’t thought of before. Damon took all of that and amplified it, but never made Jeremy feel like he was the one who had come up with the idea in the first place. Maybe Damon had thought about the possibility but just hadn’t thought it was worth it, because he touched Jeremy as if he knew exactly what to do every time. Wherever Damon had learned all of this, he’d been a good student, and Jeremy didn’t mind benefiting from it.

His orgasm hit him and then he was so relaxed that he it took him a couple seconds to realize that Damon had lifted his legs higher up and was already pushing his cock inside.

Jeremy didn’t object, it was a little overwhelming and he was going to be sore later, but he smiled at the thought. That was something he could take with him when he had to leave and he let Damon do what he wanted and tried to tell him that he was fine, even if he was having trouble finding words.

Afterward, Damon laid on his back and Jeremy stretched out beside him. “Where did you learn how to do that?” Jeremy asked sleepily. He was warm and comfortable and if he didn't move then his ass didn't hurt. He rolled over slightly so he was pressing against Damon's side, and Damon lifted an arm so he could rest his head on Damon's stomach. “The belt, I mean.”

Damon shrugged and said offhandedly. “From my father. He always went for that first.” Jeremy lifted his head but Damon was staring at the ceiling. “Go to sleep, Jeremy.”

Jeremy couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound stupid, and so he slid even closer to Damon and closed his eyes.

It had been too much to hope that Elena wouldn’t be waiting up for him, but Jeremy still missed a step when he hit the last stair and found her sitting in the living room. “Hey.”

“Jeremy,” Elena said and jumped to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great,” Jeremy said. His shirt was torn at the collar and he had a couple of bite marks that weren’t covered by his clothes and his mouth was swollen. He wasn’t thinking about how funny he was walking, but he saw Elena take it all in and refused to apologize. “How are you?” He could be nice if Elena would do the same.

“I’m good,” Elena said. She glanced over Jeremy’s shoulder and her eyes narrowed. “Where’s Damon?”

“Still in bed,” Jeremy said. “I’m headed home, see you later.” He didn’t check to see if Elena was going to follow him, she’d find him later no matter what and the lecture was going to be hard to tune out because Elena yelled when she got really worried.

All Jeremy wanted was to get some sleep; he didn’t foresee there being a lot of chances for that with Damon around, and even though they’d taken a nap, Damon had woken him up for another round. He’d drunk Jeremy’s blood three or four times, it was hard to keep track, and that was another reason that Jeremy was so wobbly, but Damon had promised to stop by and make dinner for the family.

“Elena isn’t going to want to see you,” Jeremy had pointed out, trying to find his boxers while Damon watched from the bed.

“Jenna likes me,” Damon said confidently and Jeremy shook his head slightly.

“She thinks you’re hot, that doesn’t mean she trusts you.”

“I told you, hot trumps weird, and I am very charming when I want to be.” His smirk made Jeremy shake his head in amazement.

“Nothing fazes you, does it?” Except for Katherine, who seemed to do a lot more than that, but Jeremy was going to have to wait to get answers, he didn’t want to spoil the mood. That and he wanted to ask Stefan about their father because only half of what Damon said at any one time made sense, and Jeremy was trying to learn how to pick out the truth from wild exaggeration.

“Not lately,” Damon said and Jeremy leaned over to kiss him again. He smiled into the kiss when Damon’s fingers dug into his neck and Jeremy relaxed until Damon was done and then walked slowly to the door in case Damon told him to come back.

He hadn’t been positive that Damon was going to show up and cook; more that he’d come by, smile and take Jeremy out of there, but the next night he knocked on the door and strolled inside carrying two shopping bags.

Jenna came into the kitchen to see what was going on and found Jeremy watching Damon trim rose stems and arrange them carefully in a glass. She blinked and then looked at Jeremy, who knew that Damon had a plan, but not what it was, and shrugged back. With that cleared up, Jenna greeted Damon and he took her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly.

It was an old fashioned gesture that should have seemed hokey, but Damon made it look natural, and Jenna smiled tolerantly and let Damon open a bottle of wine and pour her a glass. When Jeremy glanced at her glass, she shook a finger at him.

“Oh, no, I am not encouraging any more bad habits, Jeremy; you find enough of them on your own.” She nodded pointedly at Damon, who raised his own glass and took a leisurely sip.

“That’s what boys do,” Damon said. “At least you know what he’s up to.”

“I’m not always sure I want to,” Jenna said, but only gave Jeremy another stern look and wandered into the living room. “Let me know if you need anything,” she called over her shoulder, and Damon smiled.

“I have Jeremy, he’ll do just fine.”

Whether or not Damon had meant it the way it sounded, Jeremy blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck, fingers brushing against one of the bite marks. “Um, yeah, what did you need me to do?”

“So many things,” Damon said, voice rumbling in Jeremy's ear as he brushed his mouth over Jeremy's cheek and put his hand on top of Jeremy’s and squeezed gently. “You need to stay here with me for now.”

Jeremy shuddered. It would be really easy to fall back into Damon's hands but then he remembered that he was standing in his kitchen and that Jenna was in the next room and Elena could show up and glare at them both.

He shook off the lethargy that had almost taken over and set himself to pulling out pans for Damon and watched vegetables and then openly ogled Damon's hands while he chopped things. His attention got him a bruising kiss, and Jeremy had to be nudged to begin serving the food when he would have stayed right next to Damon all night.

Damon sat next to him at dinner, and Jeremy shoved his leg closer to Damon's chair, and when Damon hooked his ankle around Jeremy's while he talked with Jenna about the price of real estate in terms of historical trends or something, Jeremy looked quickly over at him and then back down at his plate. Damon ran the toe of his boot up Jeremy's leg, and back down again in an uneven rhythm that Jeremy couldn’t keep track of and he couldn't help but try and think about it, and eventually Elena noticed that he wasn't eating. Of course she looked at Damon right away, but he was holding his fork in one hand and the fingers of his other hand were curved around the stem of his wine glass and he was talking intently to Stefan about colonial holdover mentalities or something. Jeremy was only catching every third word and it was no wonder that Elena was looking at him funny.

“Jeremy?” Elena asked, and it sounded like it wasn't the first time she'd said his name. Jeremy didn't react until Damon's foot jabbed him solidly and then he sat up straighter and smiled at her.

“What?”

Elena shook her head and her mouth turned downward as she stared at Damon. He was ignoring the way she was glaring, and Jenna gave her a sharp look when she caught it. Jeremy wanted to laugh; there was a conversation in Elena's future that involved being nice to guests and not trying to kill them with your brain at the dinner table. Damon seemed to have won Jenna over again, or at the very least, convinced her that he wasn't interested in Elena and could actually be charming and useful. Not at all like he was reminding Jeremy what they'd already done and that there was a lot more Damon knew that he might share if Jeremy earned it.

Somehow Jeremy made it through dinner without doing something stupid, and Damon got up first to help clear the table. Jenna objected, telling him that guests weren’t supposed to clean up when they’d cooked, and they argued their way into the kitchen. Elena looked at Jeremy and then at Stefan, took her own plate, and followed after.

“Does that mean you want to talk to me too?” Jeremy asked, and Stefan smiled just a little bit. Jeremy sighed but led the way into the living room,; even though Damon would be able to hear them, Elena and Jenna wouldn’t and that was the best Jeremy could do, he didn’t want more witnesses to this than absolutely necessary, and Damon was that in spades.

“I know what you've been doing,” Stefan said and Jeremy stared at him. He was trying not to blush when people implied he was doing something out of the ordinary, but apparently that didn't apply to the Salvatores.

“Oh yeah?”

Stefan didn't seem impressed by Jeremy's attitude. “Jeremy, I know my brother, and also,” he stepped closer to Jeremy and lowered his voice. “You smell like him. And sex.”

Jeremy groaned. “I took a shower.” A really long one as a matter of fact, but he wasn’t going to share that part with Stefan, although from his expression he might have guessed as much, and that was mortifying.

Stefan shook his head. “I'm a vampire, Jeremy, I can tell, and I figured out the rest pretty easily.” He raised an eyebrow and gestured at Jeremy's neck. “Your mark is showing.”

“One of them,” Jeremy said defiantly, because if he was going to get this from Stefan too he wouldn't hold anything back, not when he could hear Damon and Jenna talking in the other room, getting along, and Damon was here, had chosen to come and knew what it would mean to Jeremy.

“Has Damon told you much about why he does this?” Stefan asked. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, with Elena of course, but that was completely normal for him and Jeremy didn't notice as much anymore, except when he caught them making out, which was something he didn't need to see.

“Has boyfriends?” Jeremy asked. He wasn't going to spell things out for Stefan, seeing what he knew was more fun and made it less scary than if Jeremy had to explain what he thought was going on. When Stefan lowered his head warningly, Jeremy shrugged. “We don’t talk about that kind of thing much. This isn’t a therapy thing, Stefan. I don’t need that from him.”

“No, but what you do need is dangerous, and even if you think you know, there are rules that Damon hasn’t explained to you, and he won’t because he’s never had to follow them.”

Jeremy’s back tightened involuntarily and he thought of the way Damon had used the belt on him, and what he’d said afterward. “What about when you were kids?”

Stefan stopped moving, maybe even stopped breathing, and Jeremy was very much aware that Stefan liked to pretend that he was human, but that he was a vampire too. “What did Damon tell you?”

Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck, fingertips running over the bite mark in a comforting motion. “He said that he learned a lot of this stuff from your dad. Is that right, or was he just saying something to shock me?” Jeremy didn’t think that Damon had been lying, he’d dropped it so casually, like he didn’t care if Jeremy even heard him, but Jeremy was paying attention.

“He wasn’t lying,” Stefan said. “Our father and Damon never got along.”

“Why? I mean, if he was always so-” Jeremy hadn’t come up with a gesture that fully encompassed Damon being himself, but he was trying, and Stefan got the point.

“No, when we were growing up, Damon was actually pretty sweet.”

Jeremy snorted. “Oh come on, that I can’t believe.”

“No, it’s true, he took after our mother, I heard stories about how much people in Mystic Falls loved her, but that you didn’t want to rouse her passions, because she’d never give up until she had her way.”

“That does sound like Damon.”

“He wasn’t mean about it, though,” Stefan said. “But I guess he and Father couldn’t get along.”

“Does he look like your mother?” Jeremy asked and Stefan smiled more broadly.

“He’s got her eyes, you know, they always look through what you’re going to do and know why.”

“When did she die?” Jeremy asked. He was thinking of his mom, and how she’d never wanted to rule Mystic Falls, even if it had been a joke, but that as a Gilbert, she’d been almost like a queen, and everybody had treated the family like they mattered. It wasn’t until they died that people turned away because tragedy was never interesting for too long.

“I was very young,” Stefan said. “I don’t remember much about her, but Damon-” Stefan nodded. “He does.”

“So maybe that’s why he and your father argued all the time,” Jeremy said. “Both of them were unhappy.”

Stefan made an impatient noise. “It was more than that. Damon could never do anything right in our father’s eyes. If he wanted to study literature, my father would have sent him to law school, if it was West Point, and then law school was the better choice. Nothing he did was good enough, and after awhile he stopped trying to please him and that was even worse.”

“But you and your dad got along okay?” Jeremy asked.

“I was the second son, there wasn’t much expected of me, so I never got in trouble,” Stefan said ruefully.

“That’s not fair,” Jeremy said. “That must have pissed him off.”

“Damon has interesting ways of coping with disappointment,” Stefan said. “After awhile it didn’t bother him and he did what he wanted.”

“Can you blame him?” Jeremy asked. “He said your dad hit him, wouldn’t anybody do something?”

“Our family was very important in the community, just like now,” Stefan said. “You may have noticed that Damon doesn’t have much trouble winning people over, who would believe that a thing like that could happen in such a good family?” As Jeremy tried to turn that over in his head so that it made sense, Stefan frowned. “I’m not giving him excuses, I’m saying that Damon had some problems.”

“Then you guys met Katherine,” Jeremy said. “If your father did a number on Damon, what was Katherine’s deal?”

“Katherine likes games,” Stefan said. “At least, that’s what I realized later. She wasn’t as careful as she could have been, and somehow Damon found out what she was and he didn’t mind.”

“I can see that,” Jeremy said. He had been a little freaked out when it turned out that Anna wasn’t just a weird girl who might like him, but she was a vampire too. “He dated her, but I thought you did too.” Jeremy had read Elena’s diary, and even though he wasn’t too proud of it, he had seen that part and done a double take.

Stefan looked uncomfortable. “We both did.”

That got Jeremy to stare hard at Stefan. “Like he dated her and then you did, or you traded off?”

“The second,” Stefan said, and he winced as he said it.

“I bet your dad didn’t like that very much,” Jeremy said.

“I was the one who escorted her to public events, Damon took her around town, but I was officially courting her, not him.” Stefan said the last very precisely.

Jeremy was getting a headache as he tried to connect all the dots and not come up with a triangle that shouldn’t have worked. “All three of you? And this was okay?”

“People say that the world has moved on, but in a lot of ways it’s stayed the same,” Stefan said. “Nobody outside of our circle knew that Katherine was involved with both of us, and I didn’t even know what she was until later.” He reached out and put a hand on Jeremy’s arm. “What you need to understand is that our father treated Damon poorly, but it wasn’t just his fault that Damon turned out this way. When he came back from battle he was completely different. I didn’t know it then, but that was when he accepted whatever Katherine had to offer him, no matter what it cost.”

Jeremy tried to put things in a historical context.

“Battle?”

“The Civil War,” Damon said, coming up behind Jeremy and putting an arm around his chest and tugging him backwards so he fell into Damon and had to let himself be caught or fall down. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about the Battle of Willow Creek or the impressive paper you wrote for Ric’s class.” Damon clicked his tongue in disapproval. “He’s going to be so disappointed in you, maybe you need some review.”

Jeremy reached up and patted Damon’s arm and shifted so it wasn’t resting so hard along his throat and he could talk without struggling. “I remember, I read Jonathan Gilbert’s journal, okay? I just hadn’t figured out that you fought in the Civil War.” He craned his head to look at Damon’s face.

Damon was smiling as he stared at his brother, but it didn’t extend to his eyes, and Jeremy thought that he was two seconds from snapping at Stefan or saying something that would ruin the evening and all the progress they’d made. “Yes, I had that distinction, not that it mattered to Father,” Damon said, and Stefan groaned.

“I was only telling him-”

“No,” Damon cut Stefan off. “You wanted to scare him off, as if that’s an option anymore.” Damon rested his chin on the crown of Jeremy’s head so he had to lean forward a little and Jeremy breathed out heavily. “See?” Damon asked, and Stefan snapped at him.

“He isn’t like the others, Damon.”

“You mean because you’re dating his sister?” Damon asked and grabbed Jeremy’s ring hand and held it up. “Or because of this? He can take a little damage, Stefan, that’s not a problem.”

“No, it’s just one of them,” Stefan said. He was trying to get Jeremy to look at him, but Jeremy didn’t want to raise his head when he felt like all his bones had melted and there was no question that Damon would catch him. “Jeremy, you heard what I said.”

Damon tapped Jeremy’s cheek. “You can answer him, if you want.”

Jeremy liked that he had the choice not to, but Stefan looked at him earnestly, and he really didn’t want to alienate his sister and her boyfriend if they could learn how to keep their distance. “I heard you, and I get it,” Jeremy said. When Stefan seemed ready to object, Jeremy shrugged. “Or I will. Either way, this is good, whatever I have, it’s good.”

Damon laughed. “Definitely not poetic, but succinct.”

Jeremy elbowed Damon, knowing that he’d have to pay for doing it in front of Stefan, but he had a point to make. “I hear that you were more of the poet type when you were human. Do you have notebooks or something with sonnets lying around in the boardinghouse somewhere?”

“Funny,” Damon said as Stefan laughed, and then coughed sharply as Damon glared. “Come along, Jeremy, let’s tell Jenna goodnight, and then you and I are going to be on our way.”

“Great,” Jeremy said. He caught a glimpse of Damon’s smile, and it was definitely menacing, but he leaned against Damon’s shoulder as they headed back into the living room and didn’t care if anybody else thought he should know better. He did, and he would tell anybody that asked that he'd made his mind up and there was nothing else to say. Except, Jeremy thought as Damon's fingers dug into his neck, that he was, somehow, and for the first time in months, exactly where he wanted to be.


End file.
